


Take What We Need And Leave The Rest

by RubyRebel



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Addiction, Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Author Cloud, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Drinking, Drug Addiction, Drug Withdrawal, Drug-Induced Sex, Drugged Sex, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotionally Repressed, Evil Reno, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Government Conspiracy, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Military Genesis, Nightmares, Non-Consensual Drug Use, POV Alternating, Panic Attacks, Past Drug Addiction, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Prison, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prison, Protectiveness, Psychiatrist Sephiroth, Psychoanalysis, Psychological Drama, Psychological Trauma, Rape Recovery, Shinra Company, Smoking, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Violence, incarceration, special intelligence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:00:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 87,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyRebel/pseuds/RubyRebel
Summary: Cloud is an intelligent, educated man, but in a slip of fate, ends up being imprisoned for years.  When he finally gets out, he's introduced to Genesis, an ex-military man with quite the history.  They hit it off immediately, but Cloud isn't expecting their newfound friendship to be plagued by his own incredibly dark past.  Nor is he expecting to have to go face to face again with the one man in the world that he's terrified of, Reno.  When the past does come back to bite him, Genesis and his old flame, a Psychiatrist named Sephiroth, must help save him from his memories, as well as keep him safe from a vengeful Reno, who wants nothing more than to keep Cloud locked up from the rest of the world forever.
Relationships: Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 84
Kudos: 53





	1. A Little Taste of Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> I have been writing this story for months. I've decided to release a new chapter every week, as most of it is already written. Buckle up for an emotional rollercoaster of dark histories, violence, addiction, and eventually, recovery! This is a LONG fic, so keep coming back every week for the next chapter!

Genesis

There was no other place that filled one’s stomach with such a subdued but persistent trepidation like prison. It is the ultimate punishment for the human mind and soul, whose deepest desires in life all center on the freedom to do as one pleases. The layered chain link fences at the state pen were particularly pallid looking in the cloudy afternoon light. There was a bit of a moist feel to the air, when inhaled, added to the suffocating pressure of the beige concrete walls that loomed upwards. This was hardly the first time that he had visited, but nevertheless the feeling was always the same. He strode across the parking lot toward the double gates topped in prickly wire. He didn’t technically have to wait by the gates for his friend to get off his shift, but he got a sort of rush from quietly soliciting outside the place and celebrating what freedoms that he too often took for granted. This was especially true since he was proficient and capable in fields that many of the inmates here were more than likely imprisoned for partaking in. His loitering here was a form of gloating in itself. 

He had parked a ways off from the entrance since he had arrived relatively early and felt like stretching his legs. This kind of weather was refreshing to him, and he was also craving nicotine like a motherfucker. He slapped the pack of Camels into his palm deftly, then hurriedly sparked one and took a long drag. Feeling the uneasiness in his stomach subside he looked over the gates again, taking it all in expressionlessly as he approached. 

He hadn’t noticed from across the lot as a figure had sidled up to the left side of the gate and stopped to inspect his surroundings. He was utterly still, not shifting back and forth as if he was waiting for anything or anyone. He was definitely a male in build, rather lanky, and wearing a dark shirt with a leather jacket, topping dark wash jeans. Since the man’s face was down-turned at his feet, he was unable to make out any facial features. But his hair was bright blonde, and stood out even more due to black streaks having been unnaturally added throughout. 

Though not necessarily intentionally avoiding the man, he still chose to stand on the opposite side of the gate, taking occasional pulls of the square he had sparked, while covertly eyeing the man in his peripherals who still hadn’t moved at all from his previous position. He worked his way up from the black boots and up to the downcast face, which finally seemed to wake out of a trance, noticing his gaze, and turned to look at him. He had delicate features, handsome, yet almost pretty at the same time, mildly feminine even. His eyes were light blue, but opaque though, as if all emotion was locked behind thick walls. 

The man stared for a moment, then shrugged slightly, “How’s it going?” 

Slightly surprised he shrugged back. “Decent, considering I could be one of those unluckily bastards in there I guess.” He snorted wryly at his own response. 

The other man actually laughed, and he noticed how his gaze trailed the cigarette in his hand in a way that gave away his most likely intent for sparking up a conversation. Although he was not fond of people bumming smokes off him, the man technically hadn’t asked him, so he decided to just finish the exchange before it even began. He grabbed the pack out of his pocket and gestured disinterestedly towards him. “You have that look in your eye.” He said bluntly. 

Though obviously not expecting this, the man closed the distance between them, and didn’t hesitate when offered. He pulled one out of the pack, “Thanks. That obvious, huh?” He muttered as he stepped back a few paces again, then seeming to blush very slightly, looked down. 

Being an acutely perceptive person he realized the issue and tossed the younger man his lighter. “Pretty much.” 

He watched as the man lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply, then coughed. “Fuck. it’s been a minute…” 

He raised an eyebrow in response. He had assumed the man was just getting off work, but he watched the way he inhaled lustfully the second time and began to realize this was an entirely different kind of ‘getting out.’

At that moment there was a loud buzz and Angeal strode out. He was clothed in a denim jacket over his uniform and smiling ridiculously as always. “I see you’ve met Cloud, how’s freedom treating you so far, man? Glad to see you’re finally able to be a human being again.”

Cloud just huffed as he tossed the butt to the ground and smashed it with his boot heel. “Well the weather sure doesn’t match the mood of the occasion, but I’ll make do. Nicotine makes that a tad better though.” He glanced at the clouds. “Feels weird seeing you out here honestly.” He added. 

Angeal grinned, his black hair gleamed even in the cloudy light, bringing out the brightness of his smile even more. He sidled over to Cloud and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder. Cloud flinched, but settled quickly and looked at Angeal, his expression a bit brighter than before. Angeal caught and held his gaze. “Any chance you need a ride somewhere? I don’t think Genesis would mind.”

Cloud looked at Genesis. Since neither had offered a name in the time they had spent outside waiting. They both let that set in for a moment in silence. Cloud looked down and frowned, thinking. “If you’re sure it’s no trouble, a ride to the Six off of fifty would be great. Think I’ll get a room there for a few days.”

"Sure, no worries man." Genesis cocked his head sideways trying to make eye contact with Cloud. "Sounds pretty lonely though, and kinda a shit way to celebrate your first day of freedom. Angeal and I are going out for a few drinks, you wanna come?"

Cloud looked up and met Genesis' gaze. He smiled for the first time, and his face glowed with unexpected happiness. "That would be great. God, I could really use a fuckin drink and some decent company. Thanks." He seemed genuinely pleased. 

Genesis tossed his keys up in the air with a jangle and caught them. "Hell yeah, let's get going then." He strode towards the parking lot and Cloud and Angeal followed behind.

The rain started to actually pour and all three of them half jogged to the car, a relatively new black toyota. Genesis unlocked the car, and they piled in, Angeal had offered the passenger seat to Cloud, but he declined with a quick shake of his head. With a thrum the engine started quickly, and Genesis pulled them out of the parking space and headed down the drive to the main road. He fumbled with the stereo and jazzy rock started to blare through the car's speakers. 

Angeal rocked his head back and forth to the music. "So Cloud, you planning on staying at the motel indefinitely?"

Genesis saw Cloud duck his head down through the rear view mirror, and gaze out the window, appearing to focus on something neither of them could see through the rain spattered glass. His eyes were almost grey in the dim light, incredibly striking even from a distance.

"Eh...probably. Really don't wanna get in touch with any family yet. Gonna hit up my friend, once I find work, and see if he'd want me as a roommate again. For now just gonna coast for the next few weeks and see what comes my way." He combed his fingers through his hair slowly, realized his ponytail was coming undone, and pulled the tie out carefully. He shook out his short mane, spraying a thin mist of water droplets about. Then redid it more tightly this time. 

Angeal nodded slowly, tapping his foot on the floor of the car to the drumbeat. "I've got a friend who could set you up with some work pretty quickly.” He spoke over the music. “Easy shit. I can give you his number if you want"

Cloud smiled hesitantly, like he was taking a risk actually enjoying the moment, and moved to see Angeal's face through the mirror. "That'd be great. I really appreciated it." He sunk back into the rear seat, seeming to relax a bit. The rain started to patter even harder onto the vehicle in a soothing rhythm. 

Genesis pulled them into a parking lot off the main highway, a small bar with an eclectic green neon sign. He'd picked the place because it was usually more sparsely populated and the bartenders all knew him by name. He and Angeal usually came here on weekday nights to relax and talk about their days. It had become a relatively regular ritual. Angeal's car had been totaled recently and Genesis had offered to be his ride for a few weeks while he got the funds together for a new vehicle. He flipped the radio off and climbed out of the car, the rain was heavy now, and he didn't bother to wait for the others, jogging instead up to the bar’s entrance to wait under the awning. He turned and saw the other two following close behind. He pulled open the door for them and they all crammed into the establishment. 

Genesis strode to a table in the back left corner, farthest from the bar, waving his hand at a middle aged woman with long black hair, pouring drinks for the only three other customers at the counter. She smiled sweetly and waved back. “Be with you in a minute! Good to see you, Gen!”

“Likewise Sonya.” He replied, waiting at the rounded table for the other two to pick their seats before seating himself. Cloud had picked the chair with his back to the corner, and had his forearms resting on the table top, fidgeting awkwardly with his hands, glancing about the room distractedly. Angeal was typing on his phone busily, probably texting his girlfriend his whereabouts in case she wanted to come meet them. Genesis was fond of Isabel, though they rarely spent time together since she worked nights.

Sonya walked up to the table. “What can I get for you three? The usual Gen, Angeal? How ‘bout you, hun?” She asked Cloud, rather saucily. Genesis was slightly surprised by her tone, but it was innocent enough.

Cloud looked at her, his smiling face glowed with unabashed playfulness. “Go ahead and bring me whatever bottle of top shelf vodka you’ve got, sweetheart. Much appreciated.” He said, and winked slyly at her, cocking his head slightly and leaning into the table towards her. 

Sonya’s cheeks went bright red and she glanced at her shiny boots with a quiet laugh. She nodded her head shyly. “Sure thing, love.” Her ebony hair poured over her shoulders as she turned to Genesis, waiting for a response.

Genesis smirked slightly at Sonya. She wasn’t exceptionally outgoing, as she dealt with quite a few repulsively drunk and overtly grabby men most nights. But she was always helpful and polite to Genesis and Angeal because they were the exact opposite of that. Genesis assumed that was why she had been so cutsie with Cloud. Given that the blonde was with them, she had assumed the same polite behavior of him as well, but had probably not expected such a charming response in return. Cloud was beautiful. And Genesis hadn’t really realized, until Sonya’s flirtatious behavior had subtly cued him in on it. “Yes, thank you, Sonya. The usual would be lovely.” 

As she trotted off quietly, Genesis gave Cloud a once over. He was quite something. His skin was flawless ivory white, and his eyes sparkled a much deeper blue in the dim light of the bar. Strong shoulders snaked down to delicate wrists below his sleeves, which were spangled with intricate black and blue tattoos running down his long fingers. His hair was slightly disheveled, but shiny black highlights ran through what he could only assume was naturally blonde hair. A delicately carved nose could be followed down to just visible collarbones that were just slightly illuminated by the rainbow lights bouncing from the arcade games close to their table. 

Genesis glanced down, possessed by a childish fear he would be discovered admiring this rather mysterious man, who had somehow gotten to know Angeal while he was imprisoned. Angeal usually shared what had happened on the job with him, but he had never heard any mention of Cloud. 

He may have been discovered, as Cloud was looking at him passively, but also curiously, when he raised his eyes. His glance was gentle, but serious. And his eyes seemed to hold a world of knowledge tucked away behind them. “You, ok?” He asked concernedly, leaning in towards him, and in what seemed a genuinely questioning tone. 

Genesis leaned back slightly, caught and guilty, he laughed quietly, “Yeah, I’m good, thanks.” He tried to assume that Cloud was oblivious to his searching glances. But he also thought that maybe Cloud had asked if he was ok just to point out to Genesis that he had noticed the stares.

Sonya surprised him by popping up next to his shoulder. She placed a tumbler with ice at Cloud’s elbow and a rather intricately decorated bottle of expensive vodka next to it. Then a jack and coke in front of him, and Angeal as well. The latter was still busily texting on his phone. 

“Thank you.” Said Cloud, as he poured his first drink, the ice crackling as the liquor hit the rocks. He took a quick swig, then grinned at her. She smiled giddily, turned, and waltzed back over towards the bar.

Genesis just raised an eyebrow at their exchange or words, but was overall relatively disinterested in the inferred flirting. He glanced at Angeal, still occupied on his phone, then turned to face Cloud, and took a sip of his drink. He was very interested to learn what had been the reason for the other man’s incarceration. “So...can I ask what landed you in there? You don’t have to tell me, but I am pretty curious. My main fault as well as my biggest gift, at least that’s what my mother would say.” He laughed at his own implication. 

Cloud’s expression darkened considerably. He poured himself another drink and downed it quickly, hissing through his teeth, then shook his head with a sigh. “There’s no easy way of putting that really. Ah...fuck it...” He poured another shot, then stared Genesis dead in the eyes. “I stabbed my brother-in-law.” Cloud said unashamedly over the rim of his glass. Raising his eyebrows nonchalantly at Genesis with a shrug, and then swallowed the next shot or two down quickly. 

Genesis nearly choked on his next sip. He coughed violently. Angeal looked up and sighed, shaking his head at him. And slapped him on the back a few times. “Don’t you go judging the kid yet Gen, there’s some surrounding circumstances, but that’s not really my story to tell.”

Cloud put another drink back, and slammed the glass back onto the table loudly. He gritted his teeth. “I truly appreciate that Angeal, but can we not broach this topic for a bit? At least let me get properly drunk first.” He rubbed his temples roughly, glaring at the table. “Nothing against you...Genesis, but can we talk rainbows and kittens for a bit first? Actually no...just anything but that. Hell.” He laughed at his own words wryly. Then a hint of a coy smile passed his lips. 

Genesis did a double take. This man was full of very strange surprises. He stared at Cloud openly, having finished coughing on his drink, fist covering his mouth. “My apologies...” He felt awful for asking such an abrasive question unwittingly, though he didn’t owe Cloud a thing. But he felt that this man might be a gentler type than he came off as, and he also knew Angeal wouldn’t be asking a cold-hearted murderer out for drinks. There must be an awful lot more to this story. But he’d have to table that for now. 

“How ‘bout this, ask me anything, and I’ll answer truthfully.” He smirked slightly at his own odd choice of evening the conversation out. Then crossed his arms, daring the other man to try and destabilize his clearly confident display of character. There was nothing he could possibly ask that Genesis wouldn’t be prepared for. Genesis might be cocky, but he loved mind games, and wanted to start some kind of entertaining dialogue between them. 

Cloud grinned rather evilly. “Now you’ve done it.” He laughed maniacally. “Alright, hm...describe your last lover.” He took another drink, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, then leaned back into his seat, and waited for Genesis' answer. The younger man acted as if he had an important piece of information that he had captured during the small amount of time since they had met. 

_Dammit. Yeah, he’s on to me. Maybe I should’ve kept my eyes to myself._ Genesis still found it humorous though, as there were no secrets between him and Angeal, so it didn’t really matter what he said anyway. 

But all that faded into the back of his mind, as images of Sephiroth were slowly triggered from his subconscious. Genesis gripped his glass tightly. _Well, maybe this could actually be payback._ He thought about censoring his response, but the whiskey, and Angeal’s trust in Cloud, convinced him otherwise. He decided honesty was indeed the best policy. Maybe he might shock the blonde to boot too. _If the little shit wants to try and embarrass me on my romantic preferences, he’s in for a surprise._

“He was the one who got away. The most beautiful soul I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.” He waved his hand in the air, a rather grandiose gesture even for him. The corner of his mouth turned upwards slightly, as he smiled smugly. He was intentionally trying to convey how unphased he was by the question with a flamboyant reply. That description definitely fit. Genesis could almost feel Sephiroth's breath on his neck, as he quietly whispered calming words into his ear. And the soft, sweet tingle of the man’s lips on his own.

Cloud sat up straighter in his chair, but gave no sign of surprise other than a deep, knowing look into Genesis’ eyes. He leaned in towards the table, as close as he had been to Genesis since meeting. “What was his name?” He asked, almost inaudibly. And Genesis caught a hint of mischief in Cloud’s gaze. 

He decided to ignore it and took another shot. He was annoyed by the other man’s rather vindictive line of questioning. But Genesis was smart enough to know it was probably just intended to distract from the information Cloud had divulged about himself, about what had landed him in prison. 

Angeal had stopped texting a while ago, and was listening intently. Not necessarily concerned about the turn in the conversation, but definitely curious where this would lead. He knew how Genesis had been completely obliterated by the loss of Sephiroth a few years previous. But he seemed to trust in Cloud that he would not push things too far, and did not intervene. 

Genesis was surprised at the subtly growing wave of sadness that gripped his insides. He took a breath. “Sephiroth.” He replied coldly, a bit of anger curdling the edges of his tone. This was a small step across the line for him. Genesis looked sideways at Cloud, narrowing his eyes slightly at the persistent younger man. 

_Fuck._ The booze had hit him harder than he thought. He smoothed his bright red hair back slowly, then pushed his chair back from the table. “Be right back.” He headed to the restroom quickly. Not wanting either of them to see how flustered he was. He never really thought about Sephiroth anymore, he tried to do his best to block out any memories of him, and just tried to live his life as best he could in his absence. The end of their relationship had not been pretty. Angeal never brought him up, because he understood. Genesis was now thoroughly annoyed with himself now for his overt reaction. 

He was surprised at how full the bar had gotten during the course of their rocky conversation. There was a loud din of laughter and conversation from the bar and the tables, the arcade machines ringed and tweeted loudly. Genesis straightened his sweater and pushed through the door to the bathroom. He sighed in relief seeing it was empty. Placing his hands on either side of one of the cracked sinks, he stared at himself in the mirror. His shoulders shook slightly and he growled angrily at his own reflection, cursing himself for his weakness. He swore loudly at the redhead in the mirror. His bright hair hung messily around his head, and he reached to straighten it with shaky hands. Then pulled the leather jacket closer around him, hiding the majority of the black turtleneck he was wearing. 

He jumped slightly as the door to the restroom squeaked open, and a conflicted looking Cloud strode in slowly. Genesis stepped back from the sink, and looked at the tiles on the wall, anywhere but Cloud’s face. In his peripheral vision he saw the younger man walking towards him and wondered what the fuck he was doing. He was annoyed with having been followed.

Cloud moved to stand next to him. When Genesis finally turned from the sink to acknowledge him, their eyes met, and bright blue spheres shone into his own with a kind softness. He chose not to react or say anything, just continued to stare at him. Then Cloud surprised him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Genesis had no idea how to respond to this, he stood awkwardly next to him, wondering what the other man was playing at. 

Cloud pulled back slowly, and stepped a few feet back from him. Leaving a more comfortable amount of space between them. “I want to apologize. That was unnecessary of me. I got a little defensive over a simple question. Little new to this whole freedom thing, but people are gonna ask, and I need to get used to it.” He now inspected the tiles on the wall as Genesis had, and sighed so deeply the strength of his already slight shoulders diminished completely. He reached up a hand and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. 

“It was a bit of a messy situation. But I don’t mind explaining, Angeal trusts you, there’s no reason I shouldn’t.” He laughed awkwardly, then blurted out, “I thought my brother-in-law was the guy I had been with. I was visiting my sister. I freaked out, thought I had to protect her...I blacked out, and I nearly beat him to death. She stabbed me in the back with a fucking kitchen knife to get me to stop, nothing else would get my attention.” Cloud cleared his throat and glanced with raised eyebrows at the ceiling distractedly, shrugging as he did so. “That make us even now?” He added, voice having roughened at the end, to wrap up his confession with a solid barrier against any comments on the matter or further questioning. 

Genesis was surprised when Cloud now raised his gaze to meet his own inquiring one, staring straight into his soul. The man wasn’t ashamed, he was angry. A deep, bitter hatred had built up inside the other man during his imprisonment. and Genesis could see it simmering on the surface, dark and hollow. The other man’s lips were pressed into a thin line. 

Genesis looked down, feeling guilty for having brought it out of him by sulking over Sephiroth’s memory. “Fuck. I’m sorry, man.” He wasn’t sure what else he could possibly say to that. He realized his eyes were probably wide, and did his best to conceal his surprise at the honesty he had just been offered. 

Cloud smiled, a bright, strong smile that made electricity shoot through Genesis’ veins, and a spark bloom in his chest. He found he was already being pulled into the gravitational force that Cloud had surrounding him. Genesis smiled in return, and found that the feeling which had been so heavy around him before had somehow lifted. He wanted to do his best to somehow return their exchange to a more normal and congenial level. Plus, he wanted to distract Cloud from what he had just brought up so he didn’t feel awkward. 

“You wanna head back into the fray?” Asked Cloud before he could speak again, a sparkle in his eye as he laughed and cocked his head towards the door. There was no trace left of what they had just spoken about in his voice. 

Genesis nodded and followed Cloud out the door. This guy was as odd as they come, but he figured being locked up for a while probably does that to a man. They waded their way through what had become a considerable crowd, the smell of cigarettes and beer heavy in the air. 

When they reached the table Angeal glanced up from a notepad he was going over. “Hey, everything good?” Angeal stared them down, one eyebrow raised. 

They both took their seats and looked at him, Cloud seemed embarrassed, Genesis appeared relieved. “Yeah, we’re fine thanks.” 

Angeal patted him on the shoulder a few times. Then looked at them both very seriously, squinting at the paper in front of him. “Do either of you have any clue what worcestershire sauce is? Isabel wants me to pick some stuff up, I have no clue what the fuck that is…” 

Cloud laughed loudly and poured himself a drink. Genesis smacked the table and then did the same. The oddly built up tension from earlier dissipated with the sound of his palm hitting the worn wood.

“It’s just a sauce man, they put that shit in bloody mary’s actually. Maybe you’re in for a fun night with your lady.” Genesis winked, bumping his shoulder against Angeal’s, taking another sip of his drink. Happy to be back with Angeal and in a much better mood than he had been moments before. 

He waved his hand in the air, looking over his shoulder towards the bar, which was now being swarmed by people who had gotten off of work. Sonya was obviously overwhelmed, but she spotted Genesis hand in the air and she waved back with a smile which was visible even across the room. Genesis knew she was beautiful, but he had never taken much notice, until tonight, just how gorgeous she was. As she walked over to them he admired the curve of her hips and the way her tight black V neck accentuated her perfect chest. He wondered if Cloud was interested in women, or if he had just been appreciating her appearance because he wasn’t blind. He noticed as she walked up to his side that she was already prepared for his request, holding a bottle of his favorite brand of whiskey in her hand. She set it on the table quickly with a glass and kissed his cheek quickly, before heading back to the crowded bar. 

Cloud was transfixed by her as she walked away. Looking like a starving child eyeing fresh baked bread. Genesis laughed and Cloud started out of his trance, looking at him almost jealously. “What? She _is_ quite the woman, you guys know each other outside of here?” He had rested one of his arms on the table and was propping his head up on it as he had followed the bartender with his gaze unapologetically. 

“You into that kind of thing?” Asked Genesis curiously. “I got the idea, from what you said, that wasn't the way you swing.” He ignored the question regarding the bartender. Then he coccked his head with a playful smirk on his face. 

“Not typically, but I make the occasional exception. I’ve never had a long term relationship with a woman, but flings, yeah.” Cloud eyed Genesis with what could only be described as an enticing smile. He had taken off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair when they had come back from the bathroom. Underneath he wore a black tank top that had the name of some metal band on the font in white lettering. 

Genesis traced the almost perfect lines of his throat down to his slim, but muscled arms. The tattoos he had seen on his hands and wrists earlier wrapped up delicately to his mid forearms. He poured himself a couple shots out of the bottle Sonya had brought him, and downed them with a single sip. It was hot in here. He took off his jacket as well and rolled up the sleeves of his turtleneck. revealing heavily tattooed arms. Unlike Clouds, his tattoos were in many different colors, many of them floral and geometric, and they completely covered his arms. 

Cloud leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table to look at the designs, “Do you mind?” He asked rather hesitantly. He reached forward and gently took Genesis arms and traced his fingers down the patterns from Genesis’ elbows to his wrists. “This is beautiful work, who is the artist?” 

“Most of them were done by my friend after I left the service. He died a couple years ago. The more delicate ones, the flowers, were done by Isabel, actually. She’s an artist in her own right, but she only does work for close friends or family.” He noticed how Cloud’s fingers lingered on the almost imperceptible scars running the length of both his wrists. The ink covered them relatively well, but it was pretty obvious what they were from. He felt the scars softly, then carefully withdrew his hands. 

Angeal had watched the entire exchange quietly, sipping on his second drink thoughtfully. He appeared to be almost slightly amused by their interaction. He finished his last sip, then scooted his chair back. “If neither of you mind, I’m gonna head out. Isa wants to spend tonight together, she’s off tomorrow.” He smiled at them both, “I think you two will get along fine. Cloud, you already have my number, if you need anything please call. I’m truly glad you’re out of there, it’s definitely not where you belonged.” 

Genesis stood up and bear hugged Angeal. “You guys have fun. Say hi to Isa for me. See you Monday?” He climbed back into his chair, watching Angeal as he packed up his notepad into his backpack and put on his jacket. 

“Yeah, if they don’t call me in. Either way, I’ll get a different ride tomorrow if need be, you enjoy your weekend. I really appreciate you going out of your way to cart me around, man. Thank you. You both have a great night, don’t go too hard alright?” He laughed deeply, raising an eyebrow at the liquor bottles in front of them both. “G’night!” 

Cloud watched as Angeal walked away, seeming slightly upset by his departure. “Well then, guess I’ll see him around.” He redirected his attention towards Genesis, leaning an elbow on the table. His hair was almost purple in the blue light flitting over from the games against the wall behind them. “So...you said you were in the military?” 

Genesis leaned back in his chair and sighed, he was used to this line of questioning. “Yeah, enlisted at eighteen, then got recruited by special intelligence. I got out a few years ago though. Had a mental breakdown, just couldn’t keep doing the shit they wanted me to do under the table like that. Didn’t sit right with me. I work in the private sector now, security etcetera.” 

Cloud took another shot, then glanced at Genesis’ arms. “Those from your mental breakdown I suppose then?” He met Genesis’ gaze knowingly. This man had quite the audacity about him, he was very direct in his questioning, he didn’t beat around the bush much. 

Genesis met Cloud’s eyes. He seemed to understand in a way he didn’t think possible from someone he had never met until today. But for some reason he didn’t distrust this man. He didn’t feel threatened. Usually questions like this put him on the defensive, like earlier when questioned about Sephiroth. But for some reason, the moment they had earlier had been enough to convince him that Cloud didn’t intend to be offensive in his bluntness.

He felt guilty for having had such a moment of weakness in his past, even though he had been told it wasn’t weakness, by Sephiroth in fact. But that didn’t make talking about it any easier. “Yeah...I didn’t actually quit, I was discharged. But it still feels like there’s a part of me I left behind in all that, and I don’t think I’ll ever get it back.” 

Cloud touched his hand, fingers just barely grazing the top gently. Genesis flinched, but left his hand on the tabletop. He wondered if Cloud was just genuinely this gentle, or if he was planning on making some kind of move on him. There was no way Genesis would allow any kind of physical contact other than what they had already had in public, he wasn’t fond of anyone outside his tight knit circle of friends being made aware of his sexuality, and anyway he had just met Cloud. But something made him unconsciously open with this man. He had this gut feeling that Cloud was a very sensitive and caring individual, though he might come off as cold due to his tendency towards bluntness. 

“I can understand that depth of isolation and hopelessness. I’ve felt it many times in my life. But never so much as after I hurt Chris like that, my brother-in-law. I tried to off myself in prison. Angeal was the only one who would talk to me, we got pretty close. That’s why he was so willing to invite me tonight.” He looked down at the table, “I can’t put into words how relieved I am to be out, but I have no idea what to do with myself. I’m conflicted as to whether I should reach out to my sister, but she never contacted me the entire time I was in there, not once, so I should probably take that as a sign…she’s not my blood sister anyway, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.” He put his head down on his arms. Cloud had been drinking more heavily than all of them, and most likely had a very low tolerance, from not having imbibed for the past few years. The bottle at his elbow was almost empty. 

Genesis wasn’t really the comforting type, not that he didn’t have it in him, but he was unused to consoling people. He kept mostly to himself and detested most normal human interaction, besides the company of Angeal or maybe two other individuals. He hesitantly placed a hand over Cloud’s arm and rested it there for a moment. “Hey, what happened wasn’t your fault. Sounds like that guy really did a number on you…” 

Cloud sat up, “Yeah, he’s a real piece of work. Thanks man.” He poured the last of his bottle into the tumbler, and sipped it down absentmindedly. “You gonna be good to drive after all that?” He added, switching the topic.

Genesis eyed his half empty bottle. “Yeah, Sonya will keep the rest for me here ‘till next time, but I’m good. You feelin ok? We can head out if you want.” He replaced the cap on the Whiskey and straightened in his chair. 

Cloud nodded and hopped out of his chair, turning to put on his jacket. Genesis did the same. Cloud put some bills on the table for Sonya, leaving a generous tip as well. Genesis wondered what he had done for work before his arrest. He was surprised at how sharp Cloud still was, even after all the booze. He didn’t fumble with his wallet, or when getting out of the chair. They both turned and headed out to what Genesis hoped was better weather than when they had come in. He waved one last time at Sonya, who replied in kind, and pushed open the rather heavy door to the outside. It was dark now, and the moon was half full, overlapped by a few large clouds which concealed most of the stars. 

Cloud followed behind him, head held upwards, mouth open, taking in the rather moody, but breathtaking sky. It had been quite a while since he had seen the moon probably. He looked at Genesis, who had paused to look at it as well. 

Genesis pulled out his cigarettes from his inside pocket and offered one to Cloud, who smiled and took it gratefully. “You're a lifesaver, thank you.”

“No problem.” Genesis replied with a grin. They stood, watching the clouds roll by the moon slowly, smoking quietly and enjoying their buzz. When they finished, Genesis unlocked the car, and Cloud hopped into the passenger seat with a slight stumble. He _was_ a bit drunk after all. They started driving back onto the main road. 

Cloud glanced at him, sheepishly smirking. Music started playing on the speakers Genesis had never heard before. Cloud had hijacked his stereo with the auxiliary cable while he was distracted. Genesis laughed. He was enjoying the music though. Cloud held up the phone to him and he looked at the song pulled up on his phone. He’d never heard of it, but made a mental note to look the group up later. 

“I like your taste.” He said, looking over to see Cloud’s expression. He was laid back in the seat with his eyes closed, rocking back and forth to the music, seemingly content. 

He had headed in the direction of the motel, but as he pulled up, noted how run down it was. A fluorescent light flickered in the office window eerily as he pulled up under the drive up canopy. Cloud sat up with a sigh and fumbled with the door handle, climbing out tiredly. He pushed the door closed behind him and walked into the office, face illuminated coldly by the off color lighting. 

Genesis noticed his phone still sitting on the passenger seat, still playing music. He heard a loud notification chime, and glanced sideways at the phone, there was a text in all caps that popped up on the screen, he tried to ignore it for the sake of Cloud’s privacy, but it was hard to ignore such blatant text: “YOU ARE MINE AND I WILL SEE YOU TONIGHT YOU FUCKING LITTLE BIT…” it cut off after in the drop down banner. 

Genesis was startled by the message. Who would be speaking to him that way, and also be aware of the fact he was out of prison. He knew it couldn’t be anything good, and wondered if there was any way he could bring it up to the younger man without seeming like a snoop. The next song began playing, some rather catchy electronic music, which he found himself unconsciously bouncing his foot too. He sat back, contemplating how involved he wanted to get in Cloud’s life, or if there was even any chance that someone so closed off emotionally would let him in, even a little. A woman sang in a very high key, in a beautiful addition to the tune, and he laid back and closed his eyes. 

At that moment Cloud opened the door and he felt a burst of cold air blow in from outside, he opened his eyes and pulled out a square and lit it thoughtfully, handing one to Cloud as well. He accepted it in silent gratefulness, picking up his phone in the other hand, and emotionlessly scrolled through his phone, Genesis imagined he was reading that awful message, and he scrunched up his brow in concern slightly, rubbing his forehead thinking. 

“You ok, man?” He hesitated for a moment, then decided fuck it, he was just drunk enough not to care. “I’m sorry, but I was trying to figure out the artist of that last song and saw the beginning of that text....doesn’t seem like anything good can come of that…” He cleared his throat and looked at Cloud kindly, trying his best not to show too much concern. There was something about this guy that made him protective, and after everything he had been through, he really didn’t think Cloud deserved to be talked to like that. He knew it wasn’t his place, but he would at least try to be supportive. He didn’t figure the guy had much in that area of his life, considering his sister had stabbed him after all. 

Cloud turned the phone face down on his knee, looking out the window, barely moving, taking a silent drag of his cigarette. Another tune began playing over the speakers, it was in a minor key, a sad instrumental song that was an obvious mix of electronic and guitars. Cloud raised his hand and scratched his head, but his chest started rising up and down faster. Genesis realized he had on a pained expression. “I’m in 202” He said harshly, voice cutting through any attempt Genesis was trying to make in question of the topic. Obviously trying to keep his expression hidden by continuously watching the lights in the tiny office flicker. If Genesis hadn’t been watching closely he wouldn’t have caught the slip. 

Genesis hesitated for a moment, then swung the car around to the far side of the motel, pulling up as close he could to the room on the second floor of the building. He turned the headlights off and sat back. He could hear Cloud breathing shakily, that he inhaled and wiped the corner of his eye roughly, before turning to him slowly. He looked at Genesis and, when their eyes met, he saw those shining blue spheres pierce his soul, filled with hurt and an aching sadness. 

“I don’t know what to tell you, I’m so sick of being hurt, betrayed, and fucked over. And I have no idea what to do with myself. Life is abysmally empty and full of disappointment. No offense, but how the fuck am I supposed to trust a man with a part of myself I’ve never shared with anyone else.” He took a last drag on his cigarette and threw the butt out the window. “Alright fuck it. What does it matter anyway, right?” He laughed coldly, and threw his hands up in the air to emphasize his frustration. “That was Reno who texted me. The guy I told you about. He’s absolutely insane, that psychopath has fucked me in so many ways I wouldn’t know where to start. But I’m terrified he’s going to try and find me tonight. We used to hook up sometimes at this motel. And if he finds me, I don’t even want to think about what he would do.” He rolled up the window, seeming to have regained some of his composure after spilling what was on his mind. “So yeah, that’s about the gist of it.” Cloud managed a heartless laugh again. 

Genesis looked concernedly at his profile, he was staring straight ahead. His nose was perfectly carved, as if he was a sculpture, frozen and aloof. Genesis was certainly not cold hearted, and he was actually much more caring than most people could read at first. He wasn’t at all disturbed by Cloud’s lack of trust in people. He had the same problem. “That’s all you have to say, I’ve got you man. You can crash at my place tonight, no worries at all, and no more questions asked.” 

Cloud looked at him, a very faint wetness was visible at the corner of one eye. “Thank you.” He said, taking a breath, and shuddering an exhale out. He still looked angry, but Genesis was smart enough to know it wasn’t at him. 

Genesis wanted to say something to comfort him, but refrained, he didn’t want to give Cloud the wrong idea, or set him off in any way. He could tell from the man’s dilated pupils and quickened breaths that he was definitely not ok with any kind of closeness right now. “Alright, good. Let’s go get your room refunded real quick, then let’s head back to my place. It’s not far.” 

He flicked the headlights back on and pulled up quickly to the office. He put it in park, and turned to Cloud, who had leaned the chair back slightly, and seemed to be muttering under his breath. He tapped his shoulder gently, and Cloud started. “Why don’t you give me your ID and the key, I’ll go handle this, ok?” 

Cloud didn’t have to be asked twice. He silently handed Genesis his wallet and the keycard, and nodded. Genesis risked a light hand on his shoulder, which this time he didn’t flinch at. Then hurried into the motel, shoving the door open. The bell dinged loudly, and a larger old woman stepped up to the desk. She gave him the cash back without much fuss even with it not being the same individual who had checked into the room. He got the idea legality was not at the forefront of their worries here. He walked quickly back to the car, in which Cloud had started blaring some heavier music, which he turned down as Genesis opened the door. 

Cloud seemed perkier than he had been a few minutes before, and smiled at him as he climbed into his seat. “Thank you.” He said softly. Gods, his voice was even beautiful. Almost sing-songy, rounded with quiet hopefulness for the situation. 

Genesis smacked himself mentally for his odd observation. But he nodded and smiled, “Like I said, no problem.” He pulled them back onto the highway and headed away from the motel. “Is there anywhere you need to stop before we head out of town?” 

Cloud looked up from his phone. He had been intently typing for the past few minutes. “If you could run by a gas station I’d appreciate it, don’t wanna keep bumming smokes from you.” He laughed, and the sound was musical. 

They rode in silence for the next ten minutes or so, except for the music. Then Genesis stopped at one off the highway towards his place, and Cloud rushed in quickly, appearing to have recovered from his troubled state of mind at least to some extent. The man bounced back like it was nothing. 

The speakers dinged again as Cloud ran in, and he glanced to see another text scrolling across the younger man’s phone: “If you think this is over, you're wrong. You know I will find you, and there is no plac…” it cut off after that. _Damn. This guy is persistent._ He thought about bringing it up, but he didn’t feel he could justify having looked at the phone a second time, plus he had promised he wouldn’t bring it up again. 

He worriedly peered into the glass front of the gas station and watched as Cloud finished paying at the register, and walked out packing his cigarettes into the palm of his hand. He hopped into the car agily and lit a cigarette quickly before checking his phone. His expression darkened slightly, but he set it down between his legs and turned to Genesis with a small smile. “Thanks for stopping.” 

“Sure thing. You all set?” He asked. Cloud nodded and they drove out of the parking lot. It was now about ten-thirty or so, and the road was dark as they drove down a hill towards a grouping of homes close to a small lake that Genesis lived next to. After a few turns, and a few select songs of Cloud’s choosing, they pulled into his driveway. 

The house was relatively small, one story, with a large grouping of pine trees surrounding it. The paneling was a dark green, and there was a deck that wrapped around the back that hung off a bit towards the lake. Genesis turned off the car after they pulled up close to the left side of the house. He grabbed a small bag out of the back seat, before opening his door and heading towards the back of the home. The driveway was gravel, and it crunched under his feet as he walked. The night air was chill and comforting in a way, he had always preferred the dark. Sephiroth had always teased him for it. It wasn’t quite cold enough for the insects not to be out though, and he heard the soft hum of crickets chirping incessantly, this was why he lived out here. The quiet of nature calmed him, and he loved the seclusion of the area around the lake. 

Cloud grabbed his phone, pocketed it, and followed after Genesis. He was relatively tall, and had no trouble catching up to him in a few strides. The back of the house had a long set of sliding doors lining it. They walked up the steps to the back porch and Genesis unlocked the closest door with his key, he pushed aside the curtains and a small black cat pounced out and began rubbing on his legs, purring loudly. 

Genesis reached down and stroked his fur, mumbling little pleasantries at it sweetly. “This is Crowley. He’s quite friendly.” He picked the cat up and pointed to Cloud. “Say ‘hi’ to my friend, you better be nice now.” Then handed him to Cloud, who took him happily, stroking his soft fur and making “aw” noises at him. 

Genesis opened the door the rest of the way and pushed the curtain back, leading the way into the house. He flipped on a lamp next to the door and soft light illuminated a mid-sized living room. Cloud followed him in, cat in his arms, still whispering sweet nothings at him, and slid the door closed behind him. There was a long black sofa, and two matching armchairs, a glass topped coffee table, a few end tables, and two lamps in either corner. There was also a wood fireplace on the far wall. The carpet was actually purplish red, and extremely fluffy. The walls and cabinets lining the partition into the kitchen were made of a dark wood, that was stained with a shiny finish. 

Genesis strode into the kitchen area to the left of the back doors, and flipped on the overhead lights, he opened the fridge and pondered what he wanted for a moment. He decided on grabbing two beers, then closed it with a thump. Cloud had followed him partway into the kitchen, and was setting Crowley down on the carpet gently. Genesis offered him the second bottle and Cloud took it with a hesitant smile. “Thank you.” 

Cloud looked around like a foreigner in a strange country for the first time. He stood awkwardly in the entrance to the kitchen. Genesis walked back into the living room and turned on the other lamps. Then proceeded to turn on the stereo in the corner, which was on top of a waist high set of drawers. Soft instrumental started to play, jazzy, but also with some electronic elements. Then he slumped onto the couch with a sigh. 

Cloud followed him into the room and sat on the couch across from him. “I’m sorry for all the running around, I really appreciate you inviting me here, thank you.” He took a sip of his beer, studying the glass top of the table for a few moments. It was littered with books of all kinds, fantasy, historical novels, sci-fi, and even one or two self-help books. There was also a heavy marble ashtray. He pulled out his cigarettes, and glanced at Genesis to make sure it was ok, before sparking one up.

Genesis nodded absentmindedly, already having finished his first beer, he took the last few sips and went back to the fridge to grab another. Crowley followed him about soundlessly, obviously quite cheerful to have his companion back. Genesis reached down and patted him on the head. When he sat back down in the armchair, Crowley jumped up onto his lap and laid down contentedly. Genesis was happy to be settled in for the night, and in general just happy to be home. He also was happy for the company of both Crowley and Cloud. He was incredibly curious about the latter, he wondered if in a more quiet environment he might open up a bit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think in the comments! Thank you so much for reading!! <3


	2. Your Demons Don't Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud isn't settling in to a life of freedom as well as he had hoped. Sometimes we can't fight the past, we just have to run away. Protective Genesis gets a glimpse of just how bad things really are, and swoops in to save the day...just in time.
> 
> *OVERDOSE WARNING*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to upload the next chapter without waiting a week, wanted to make sure I gave enough story for the readers to understand where this was going. Tempted to just upload the rest...I have zero patience!

Cloud

Cloud had settled into the comfortable couch and was content just to sit in a relatively safe place, listening to the music Genesis had put on. He could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket, but decided to ignore it. _Fuck Reno, the bastard can wait._ He knocked the ash from the end of his cigarette into the tastefully carved ashtray and looked around the room. It was relatively plain, besides a few paintings on the wall that appeared to be abstract. The kitchen from what he could see, was relatively similar in its efficiently furnished appearance, and was very clean and tidy. There were only two photos in the room, one of a beautiful young woman hugging two young children in front of her, and the other of a boy, probably around sixteen or seventeen. They sat above the stone fireplace, which appeared to have not been used for awhile, there was no wood or paper next to it, and there was no smell to indicate recent utilization of it. 

Genesis sat quietly in his chair, taking the occasional sip from the bottle next to him and stroking Crowley behind the ears. Who purred affectionately in response. Cloud was relieved that they had been able to come to an understanding. The other man was quite striking with his red hair and insightful eyes. They at first had thrown Cloud off, with how observant they were. And he had been almost annoyed with him in the bar, but after their interactions outside the establishment, and how kind and genuinely helpful Genesis had been, he had to admit that he was growing on him. And it definitely didn't only have to do with appearances. He knew Angeal would have very good taste in friends, and he was inclined to trust someone that Angeal had put his trust in, much more than just any man he had met on the street. Cloud had been beside himself earlier at the bar when they had an off-putting exchange of words, and not just for Angeal’s sake, but because he did truly enjoy the man’s company, and he seemed very intelligent. Cloud knew he must be an intellectual, which was apparent from all the varied books scattered across his coffee table. He was well spoken, and seemed to be cool-headed enough to have not taken Cloud’s antagonism at the bar personally. 

Genesis looked at Cloud, and his dark green eyes shone with slight fascination in Cloud’s direction. “So...I know I said no more questions, but I have to ask, did you bother texting that guy back? I don’t think he deserves any kind of acknowledgement from you. I mean, he’s the one who landed you in there really, right?” 

Cloud felt his stomach churn and he lit another cigarette, he just wanted this feeling of dread to leave him. If he even thought about Reno, images rose to the forefront of his mind that he had very little ability to control. He could see his eyes, dark and empty, full of rage and disgust. He could feel his cold hands wrapped around his throat and wrists, the awful sensation of being completely helpless. It made him want to crawl out of his own skin. He had expected him to reach out after he was released, but he hadn’t expected the level of aggression that he was attacked with. The last thing he wanted to do right now was talk about it. If Genesis had any idea what Reno was like, or what he had done for years, he was sure that the other man would kick him out right now. That went without saying. He knew that if Genesis knew more about who he really was, that the man would want anything to do with him. 

Cloud could barely wrap his mind around the fact that he was free now. Everything overwhelmed him. Being drunk helped a little, but interacting with new people had been a bit much for him. He didn’t consider Genesis to be just anyone, but it was still taxing to try and hold a conversation without confusing the topic or mixing up his words. He didn’t realize that two years in a confined environment would have so much of an effect, but now that he thought about it, and also everything he had been subjected to whilst incarcerated, he really couldn’t deny the logic of his current mentally conflicted state. He was ecstatic on one hand, just to breathe the free air, but on the other hand, he was utterly at a loss for how to respond to any kind of stimuli around him. He was doing his best to play things off casually, but he wasn’t sure that Genesis was really buying his attempt at casual behavior. On top of everything, his interactions with Reno while in prison, were becoming something his thoughts could not ignore. He was continuously reminded by his subconscious what he had been through, and he knew that it was made even harder by the fact that he couldn’t talk about it. Angeal had no idea, and he had done everything in his power to keep it that way. But it had been weighing on his mind after getting out, if he should finally break down and tell him, the situation was different now. Maybe he had a chance to actually start over, but the messages Reno was sending him said otherwise. He was at an impasse, and he had yet to make up his mind, if he ever even could, on what he should do. The craziest part of all of it though, was that he still didn’t think any of this was real. How could it be? 

He shivered slightly and felt goosebumps rise on his arms. He took a sip of his beer, and looked back at Genesis. Who had leaned forward slightly in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and was looking intently at Cloud. 

“No one knows you’re here, except maybe Angeal. And I wouldn’t hurt you, so you can relax. I don’t want to upset you, but who does this Reno guy think he is, talking to you like that? ...what did he do to...make you feel like this, and why are you even talking to the guy still?” 

Cloud looked away quickly. _Dammit all_. Genesis wasn’t going to leave it alone. It was appreciated that he seemed to be asking out of actual concern for Cloud’s well being, but he wasn’t up for explaining. He decided that he could duumb it down a bit, make it palatable in a way that would leave most of the details out. He just wanted to relax and forget about Reno, but he wanted to give enough to put this discussion to rest for the remainder of the night. He didn’t want to fall apart in front of this guy again. It wasn’t Genesis' problem and he didn’t want to ruin his night anymore than he already had. 

“Well...I didn’t get in contact with him, he just knew when I was getting released and still had my cell number.” He realized he was diverting from the rest of the questions mostly unintentionally, and redirected. “Reno did a lot of awful shit. He was...abusive…in every way....and then on top of that, the shit he did really fucked with my head. I haven’t been in my right mind since I left him.” He realized his hands were shaking, and twisted them together to make them stop. He had made it a point only to address what had happened before he was imprisoned, it had made it a much more fathomable topic.

Genesis leaned back and took in what he had said, obviously mulling it over. “I’m sorry, Cloud.” He said softly. He grabbed Cloud’s empty bottle and walked to the kitchen. The other man seemed to have decided to drop the subject after the information he had gleaned from Cloud’s response. “You want another?” 

Cloud nodded and Genesis brought two fresh ones back into the living room. The redhead sparked a cigarette of his own when he sat back down. Cloud took a sip of the already open bottle, Genesis had already removed the caps. “I’m really sorry for ruining your night. I didn’t mean to be such a downer.” He leaned back into the couch and sighed. Great. He felt like he had already fucked up his first interactions with anyone outside of prison, and had inconvenienced the shit out of him. He felt like a complete and utter failure. 

Genesis swiveled his head to look at him quickly and waved a hand. “No, you haven’t been at all. Life is unpredictable, and honestly I’m happy to have been able to help. Don’t blame yourself for things out of your control. I understand a little bit of what you’re going through I think.” Genesis seemed to hesitate for a moment, then finished his thought. “PTSD is real, and it’ll take time for you to get a handle on that, as well as adjusting back to everyday life.” He smiled slightly, “I think that’s why Angeal introduced us. I think he had a feeling we would have a lot in common, and he must’ve known you were gonna have a rough go of it getting out. Figured maybe we could help each other.” 

Cloud felt relief wash through him. He hadn’t been expecting that response at all. Maybe there was still hope for this night's human interaction after all. He smiled at Genesis, and Genesis seemed almost embarrassed by his reaction. Cloud looked down at Crowley, who had hopped into his lap, and took a couple sips of his beer. Genesis cheeks appeared to have turned slightly pink. Maybe it was just the alcohol, but it was definitely visible. Cloud decided to change the subject, he was incredibly curious to know more about Genesis, and what made the man tick. He looked up at the pictures on the mantle. “Those of your family?” 

Genesis started, “Oh, yeah...my sister is the one on the left, with her kids, and the one on the right...that’s my brother, well, at least that’s how old he was when I last saw him...he ran away when we were young, right after I enlisted. He was fifteen at the time.” 

Maybe it was the booze, or maybe he was warming to Cloud, but Cloud was surprised at how forthcoming he had been with his answer. “You haven’t seen him since then? Damn...I’m sorry, that’s gotta be hard.” 

He looked at Genesis, who looked at the carpet, his red hair falling across his face, hiding his expression. He took a sip from his bottle, more like a swig, then placed it onto the glass topped table with a clang, then went back to staring at the carpet. Cloud took in how breathtakingly handsome the man was. Even though his visage had taken on a pained expression, his profile cut a refined outline against the black back of the chair. His hair, of all his features, was the most striking. And as it lay across his face, dark murky eyes highlighted against his pale skin, you could see a depth of being in them that spoke of timeless memories never shared, and stories that would go to the grave. 

Genesis opened his mouth as if to respond, then shut it. He sighed, “I never found him. I went everywhere looking for him, put up flyers, talked to the police. None of it made any difference. He didn’t want to be found. And honestly I would be ok with the idea that maybe he just disappeared and started a new life somewhere else, but I know deep down that he would have found me by now if he was alive. And with everything that happened to him...it doesn’t surprise me he would take his own life….It’s knowing that he’s dead, and that I never even got the chance to try and convince him life was worth living. That's what kills me.” He glanced over his shoulder at the picture, then stood up and walked over to the mantle. He stared at it for a moment, then placed it facedown on the ledge softly. He walked back to the armchair thoughtfully. 

Cloud took in this seemingly out of character display of sadness silently. His chest ached for him and he wished there were words for the situation, but he knew there were none. So he just let the silence stand, lighting another cigarette as quietly as possible. “I’m sorry.” 

Genesis shrugged. “It was a long time ago, but not a day goes by that I don’t think about him, or if there was something I could’ve done. Anything that I could have said differently.” He sighed again, “But it is, what it is, and the past is the past.” 

Cloud nodded, and cocked his head as he heard the song change on the stereo. Crowley seemed to have realized he had been distracted from petting him and nudged his hand, purring loudly. He reached down and scratched behind his ears affectionately. 

Genesis laughed loudly, “He’s quite fond of you. He’s usually a bit more suspicious of strangers.” He yawned, “Fuck, I’m tired as shit.” He got up and carried both of their now empty bottles to the trash in the kitchen. He walked back into the living room and stopped next to the couch where Cloud sat smoking and still petting Crowley. “You mind if I pass out?” 

Cloud looked up at him slowly, he smiled and shook his head. “Not at all. Thank you again for everything.” He put out his cigarette and pulled the playful cat up onto his lap into a more comfortable position. 

He looked at Genesis' expression, he was clearly exhausted and looked utterly drained emotionally. Genesis stretched his arms and yawned loudly again, “No problem at all, Cloud. I’ll bring you some blankets, hang on a sec.” He turned and walked down the hall, to what Cloud assumed was the way that led to the bedroom and bathroom. He couldn’t tell how big the house was just from observing the arrangement of the living room and kitchen area. He was anxious about sleeping in a place he wasn’t familiar with, and he betted he wouldn’t sleep much anyway, but it was a hell of a lot better than the Six, and there was no way Reno knew he was here. 

Genesis appeared quickly again from the darkened hallway, carrying a few folded blankets and a pillow as well. He flipped the switch near the front of the hall, and it illuminated four doors in the passage that had been almost pitch black before. With the thick curtains on the windows, not much moonlight could make it through. 

“Here ya go. Let me know if you need anything at all, my door is the first one on the right, just knock. Oh, and the bathroom is the door at the very end.” He placed the stack of blankets on the couch next to Cloud and hesitated for a moment. He then gently placed a hand on the top of Cloud’s head. Then straightened quickly. “Goodnight.” He hurried back down the hall, flicking the hall lights off as he went, Cloud heard his bedroom door close with a soft thump. 

He sat, slightly stunned on the couch. He shook his head with a small smile. He laughed under his breath, barely audible. He still had no idea why Genesis was going this far out of his way to be kind to him, but he wasn’t going to question it. He placed Crowley down onto the plush carpet, then untied and removed his boots. He folded his jacket and placed it on the table next to his pack of smokes, then got up and flipped off the lights in the living room, leaving the kitchen lights on to spill in from the entryway. He decided on leaving the stereo on too, and curled up on the couch, unfolding the blankets, over himself, and closed his eyes. There was too much swirling around in his mind right now, and he decided just to leave it all alone for now, and just surrender to sleep. Today went much better than he had expected, and he decided to focus on that as sleep took him. 

Genesis

Genesis awoke to a crashing sound that echoed loudly from down the hall. He sat up quickly and grabbed his gun from the side table. Reflexes heightened immediately by the noise. He climbed out of bed, barely able to see, and maneuvered to a spot next to his bedroom door. He soundlessly twisted the knob and pulled the door open. He made his way down the hall, weapon extended out in front of him. As he reached the living room, he could see from the light flooding in from the kitchen that a figure was sitting bolt upright on the couch. The table in front of the couch was flipped over on its side, and the marble ashtray was flung off of the top and had spilled its contents onto the red carpet in a grey swirling pool of ash and butts. 

Realizing it must be Cloud, and that there was no one else he could see inside the house, he lowered the gun slowly and approached the couch from the side. “Hey….hey...Cloud, you awake?” He asked softly. As he got closer he realized the man was visibly shaking, and as he reached the end of the trail of light from the other room, he could see streaks of sweat highlighted on his neck. He turned round the edge of the couch and crouched down slightly, keeping the gun close to his side so that it wouldn't be visible from Cloud’s angle. 

Cloud was breathing loudly in short panicked spurts, his eyes darting back and forth from Genesis to the coffee table. His hair was in disarray and his shirt was wet with sweat, clinging to his chest. He focused his pale blue eyes on Genesis for a moment and muttered something incoherent, then stared down at the carpet. 

“I’m so sorry...I didn’t mean to wake you…” Cloud took another breath that almost sounded like he was choking. And proceeded to just stare at the floor, then closed his eyes tightly.

He must have had some kind of nightmare. Genesis realized that he was ashamed more than anything else, so he decided that fixing the mess up quickly to show him it wasn’t so bad, would be the best move at this point. Besides, he probably didn't want to be looked at in this vulnerable state. He tucked his weapon into the back of his athletic pants, they were relatively snug, so it held. He slowly pushed the table back to its upright position. Then proceeded to scoop up what he could of the ash from the carpet into the tray, which was only chipped slightly on one edge, then carried it into the kitchen and dumped it in the trash can. When he came back into the living room, Cloud was gone. 

He heard the sink running in the bathroom at the end of the hall, and felt a slight wave of relief wash through him; Cloud had at least calmed down enough to go get cleaned up. He placed the ashtray on one of the end tables this time, so in case there was a repeat tonight, the contents of the tray wouldn’t be scattered everywhere. He flipped the switch to the hallway lights, then walked quietly back to his room and put his gun into the nightstand drawer. 

He had expected Cloud to have come out by now, but he hadn’t heard the door. Genesis grabbed one of the hoodies from the hooks on the back of his bedroom door, and walked down to the end of the hall, stopping outside the bathroom. He leaned on the wall, listening for any sounds of movement inside. “Cloud...hey, you there? I know you're listening, so please don’t worry about it, it’s all good man. I brought you a shirt, open the door, c’mon.” 

He heard a shuffling sound, then Cloud cracked the door open, Genesis could see through the gap that he was shirtless, but his hair was back up in a ponytail, and he was no longer dripping sweat. But he caught his breath as he saw Cloud’s narrow chest and abdomen were covered in scars, bright white lines criss crossed over his shoulders and down towards his stomach. But that wasn’t what bothered him. There were fresh black and blue bruises on his stomach and barely scabbed over cuts followed down along his hip bones under his jeans. His gut twisted with anger, who the fuck had done that, the man had barely been out for even twenty-four hours yet. His visceral reaction, being that he had a very protective personality, was to shove the door open and demand to know who it was. But his years of raising his younger siblings himself, and also the many hours of sensitivity training he had received when he worked in intelligence, reminded him that was not going to be a viable option for learning the truth. Cloud was not a forthcoming individual, and it would be ten times as hard to get that kind of personal information out of him if he tried to force it. 

He tried to hide his expression in a small smile, and handed the hoodie through the doorway. The younger man snatched it quickly, and pulled the door closed. Genesis had to force himself to take a few deep breaths. He wondered if Angeal knew anything about this. He would be shocked if he didn’t, this must be another one of the reasons he had wanted to introduce them. He was slightly frustrated that Angeal hadn’t given him some kind of warning, but also was reminded that this was the reason he loved Angeal so much. Always trying to help people. Even when inconvenienced the shit out of him. Isabel had even had to ban Angeal from bringing people home who needed help, because it was almost every other week, and they never had the place to themselves. Genesis knew she loved him for it, but could also understand her perspective as well. That was probably why Angeal had left Cloud with him at the bar. _Goddammit Ang._ Genesis had just as big, or even bigger of a heart than Angeal, but he was much more reclusive and had had enough of people to last him a lifetime. He had to admit though, that Cloud had already made himself a small space in Genesis’ heart. And now on top of that, there was a very deep urge growing in his chest to bring pain and vengeance on whoever was responsible for hurting him. 

Now to figure out who....Cloud was still in the bathroom, and the sink was running again, but there was no other sound otherwise. He was getting more concerned the more time that passed. “Cloud?” He called, sounding a bit more serious than last time, hoping to convey by his tone that he better hurry his ass up. “Hey, you ok?” There was no response, and he knocked on the door a few times. Still no response. 

_Fuck._ He pounded on the door with his palm now, “Hey, open the door Cloud.” Nothing. _Double fuck_. He turned the knob, but it was locked from inside. Everything was utterly silent, except for the quiet sound of the faucet running. He was now extremely alarmed, and he pushed his shoulder into the door. “I’m coming in, I’m sorry.” He leaned back and then slammed his weight into the door with as much force as he could. The wooden door frame broke off with a snap and little pieces of the broken wood sprayed onto the tile in the bathroom, he caught himself from falling as the door gave way and swung open. 

He stumbled as he nearly tripped over Cloud’s legs that were lying stretched out and motionless over the small black bathroom rug. Cloud’s back was propped up against the side of the bathtub, but his head hung limply to the side and his arms draped onto the tile, palms open and fingers curled up almost into fists. He was wearing Genesis’ black hoodie with one of his favorite jazz bands' logos on the front, but one of his sleeves was rolled up, and a bright red circle was visible on top of the main vein, a small amount of blood dripping from the needle mark. 

“Fuck, fuck...Cloud? Can you hear me, hey, hey....” There was a small syringe on the tile next to him. Genesis hurriedly grabbed his head in one hand and gently maneuvered his body down onto the tile, grabbing the syringe and throwing it angrily to the other side of the bathroom. He put his ear next to Cloud’s lips and listened for air movement. He could just make out very shallow breaths coming in and out of his lungs very softly. He put a hand on his forehead and cursed. “Hey, I’ve got you, you're gonna be ok...hold on…” 

He stood up and bolted down the hallway to his room, he rushed through the doorway and snatched his phone from the nightstand, dialing 911 as he ran back to the bathroom, Cloud was still lying on the floor, but now his body was convulsing. He knelt down by his head and picked it up, placing it on his knees, holding his face between his now sweaty palms, running his thumbs across his cheeks. “I have an overdose, 599 route fifteen in Crestview, he’s still breathing…” he said to the operator. He had switched into crisis mode a while ago, and was leaning on his training not to panic. He took his phone and put it facedown on the floor, line still open in case they needed to track his location. _Jesus chist kid, what the fuck happened to you...._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's that! Come back to see how our beloved Cloud fares. Please, pretty pleaaassseee bless me with your feedback in the comments! As I said, this story is long and I'm still making additional edits. If there is something you would like to see in the upcoming chapters, let me know! Thank you!


	3. Lazerus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud awakens, troubled by the haunting memories of his past. Both he and Genesis have an encounter with Sephiroth.

Cloud

The light was blinding even from behind his eyelids, and he didn’t want to open them. His body felt like lead, and his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. His head ached like he had been knocked out with a two by four, and he strained to move his arms. He wanted to touch his face to see if he was still in his body, he felt like he might just be dead, but the rustle of sheets as his hands moved weakly next to him, and the unignorable scent of disinfectants and bleach tickled his nose, and he realized he had no such luck. 

He exhaled, but the air caught in his throat and his esophagus felt raw, he started coughing raggedly and couldn’t stop. He felt his back arch and his eyelids forced themselves open. The blue and white of the hospital walls was blurry and swirled sideways as he coughed hoarsely onto the bleached white sheets over his legs. He vaguely noticed a splash of red at his left elbow, but he was too busy getting the air to slow in his lungs and the room to stop spinning. He was incredibly high, but knew it was from the remnants of the sedatives the hospital must’ve given him, not from the heroin. He felt a cool hand touch his arm and it gave him a semblance of where things were in the room. He fell back heavily against the pillows and shut his eyes again. 

“Hey....you should drink this.” He cracked an eyelid open and saw the last person he had expected to see standing next to his bed, holding a small cup of water in front of him. He closed his eyes again.  _ Dammit why is he still here.  _ He cracked an eye open again, hoping he was hallucinating.  _ No such luck, fuck. _ He sat forward, taking the cup in his hands, realizing that his forearms were hooked up to multiple IV’s. He took a couple small sips from the cup, now that his mouth felt a little less like it was full of gauze, he was able to clear his throat without coughing. He lay back onto the pillows, still holding the water cup. 

“No offense, but why the fuck are you here?” He had another coughing fit, and almost choked on the water as he sipped it, trying to regain his ability to breath. When he finally stopped, Genesis ceased hovering at his shoulder and sat down in the chair that was pulled up next to the bed. The man rubbed his temples and sighed. He appeared almost as disheveled as Cloud was sure he looked. He had on the same sweats that he had been in last night, which were really more like athletic pants. And he was wearing a lightweight black coat over a red v-neck shirt that he must’ve put on before coming to the hospital, he had been shirtless last night when Cloud had woken him. Cloud could see his colorful chest tattoos peeking around the edges of the collar. He looked exhausted. But Cloud was comforted by the fact that it must only be the next day and not more that he had been out for. 

“I don’t suppose you know where my phone is, do you?” He asked, fidgeting around in the bed, and tugging with a grimace at the IV’s in his arms. The harsh morning light streamed in through the single window in the room, and he could see the greenish bruising on his wrists from having been strapped down. He set the now empty cup on the side table. He was incredibly embarrassed, only because he was supposed to be dead by now, and hadn’t made any plans for how to deal with this situation. He was also very angry, mainly because he was in a lot of pain, and also because he was being watched very carefully by the man beside him. The redhead was silent, and looked out the window thoughtfully, before turning back to respond. 

“Hm...this phone?” He pulled out Cloud’s phone from his pocket and held it up with a raised eyebrow. Cloud noticed with an internal cringe that there were no unread message notifications.  _ Goddammit.  _ Genesis obviously took note of his defeated expression. “Ok Cloud...I want you to know a few things. I’m not mad at you, and I’m very glad that you survived. But I need to make a couple things clear. If you’re going to be living with me there’s gonna have to be a few things I need you to agree to.”  _ Wait what…? _ “One, no lies, I need you to be completely honest with me. Two, no drugs. I don’t know if this was just a method to get what you want, or if it was a regular thing, but I am not ok with you abusing yourself that way. And three, we’re going to find you some help and I need you to be cooperative.” 

Cloud just lay there stunned, staring openly at the man. He was in shock, first off, that Genesis did not hate him, and also by his inference that he was going to be staying with him. He didn’t know how he felt about that, he really did not want to be around anyone right now, but luckily he was drugged up and wasn’t that upset by Genesis’ presence due to it. “I really don’t think it’s necessary for me to be staying with you, I really appreciate the offer, but I’d prefer to be alone. No offense intended, and thank you, but I’m nobody’s problem but my own.”

Genesis smirked for some reason, and scooted his chair a bit closer to the bed. “Alright man, fine. But they’re not letting you out of here without a mandatory stay in the psych ward unless you have somewhere to go home to, and the Six doesn’t count.” He gazed at him more seriously now, “Cloud...I read the texts on your phone. This is not ok.” He unlocked the phone, it had no pass code, and pulled up the most recent text from Reno and held it up to Cloud to look at: “THEN DO IT! You fucking pussy.” 

Cloud looked away.  _ And I failed at that too. _ He felt his eyes start to moisten and laid back on the pillows and shut his eyes, lest Genesis see what just looking at the messages did to him. He felt a hand over the top of his, it was cool, but calming. He opened his eyes and looked at Genesis, he felt cornered, but the logical part of him could see where the older man was coming from. He just wanted to help, and he wanted Cloud to realize that this was his best option. He now realized that Genesis was literally offering him a place to stay because they must have told him they wouldn’t release Cloud unless he had a home to return to, and Genesis obviously knew he had him cornered with that. Genesis was going to use it as best he could to force Cloud to acknowledge the situation. A strange kind of blackmail. 

“Hey, I’m right here. And I would never let anyone hurt you...Cloud, I should tell you...they told me about your injuries…I know what he’s been doing to you. I don’t know how he got to you while you were in there, but I want you to know I don’t think any less of you because of it.” He removed his hand and looked out the window again. “And you’re not weak if you admit it or talk about it. But you don’t need to tell me anything you don’t want to. It’s ok.” 

Cloud felt an utter emptiness rise up inside him, and a disgust at himself that he couldn’t shake. He rolled over in the bed, finally able to feel the rest of his body, but his joy at that was utterly obliterated by the realization that this man knew.  _ He knew _ . He felt tears start to roll down his cheeks, he stayed curled up on his side facing away from Genesis. Trying to hide his emotions as best he could, but his breaths were shaky, and he knew the other man could tell. Genesis was very perceptive, maybe from his training, or maybe just because he cared. But Cloud didn’t care, and in this moment, all he wanted was to get high. He was grateful for the drugs in his system already, but they didn’t really cut it, and he was annoyed at them also, because he was much more susceptible to showing his true emotions on them. 

Genesis was silent, which he was grateful for. Cloud watched the patterns on the floor from the sunlight flicker on the tile floor. A doctor and a nurse walked in, and luckily his tears had stopped falling a few minutes ago, but now he felt so completely devoid of emotion that he didn’t even feel connected to his body. He floated around in his head as the Doctor asked him a couple basic questions to verify that he still had his mental faculties intact, then listened to his heart and checked his blood pressure. The nurse spoke quietly with Genesis out in the hallway, she had gestured for him to follow her when she had walked in, and had glanced at Cloud with a small smile, but it was full of the one thing he despised, sympathy.

The doctor left after encouraging him that he was in very good health for what he had just gone through, and that he would be able to leave tomorrow morning. On his way out, he laid a pamphlet on Cloud’s bedside table. Genesis walked back in and glanced at the pamphlet, he snatched it up and put it inside his coat pocket as covertly as he could. Then went back to sit in his chair.

Cloud resumed his position of laying on his side away from Genesis and examining the tiles on the floor. “What did she say?” He asked quietly. 

Genesis sighed heavily. “Well, she said that you can leave tomorrow morning as long as you’re coming home with me. And...she advised that you seek treatment for dealing with your mental health symptoms.” He recited the prognosis as if he was filing a report. Cloud figured it was how he distanced himself from upsetting circumstances, but it hit him the wrong way, and he growled in frustration under his breath. 

“You can be honest with me if you want me to be honest with you, you know.” He rolled over and sat up. “What was that pamphlet for?” He crossed his arms and glared at Genesis. 

Genesis looked sideways at the wall, then faced him, meeting his eyes with his own. He looked sad, but there was no pity in his gaze, which Cloud was grateful for. “It’s a pamphlet on how to recover from….some of the things you’re dealing with, different psychiatrists here at the hospital that specialize in it.” 

Cloud felt a spike of fear and anxiety crash through his limbs and an explosion of fireworks in his mind gave way to a flash or memories from when he was incarcerated. The feeling of his back against the block wall, the look in Reno’s eyes, the pain of his touch. He inhaled sharply and gritted his teeth. Building up a wall in his mind around the memories, and cutting himself off from the images as best he could. “Well then, whatever it is, it’s irrelevant.” He scoffed, “Idiots.” Genesis just looked at him, he blinked, but did not argue with him. 

At that moment Angeal walked in, much to Cloud’s relief. He was smiling happily. Cloud noticed he was wearing his uniform, and realized he must have just gotten off of the late shift at the prison, they must have called him back into work after all.

He walked up to the bed and hugged Cloud, patting him on the back. “Holy shit, it’s the man who can’t die!” Cloud was overwhelmed, but he hugged him back, and a small grin even spread across the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah that’s me.” He said, holding up his many IV’ed arms with a sly smile at the irony of the situation. He was very happy to see Angeal, he discovered that he had been subconsciously craving the man’s calming presence. 

Angeal pulled up a chair to the other side of the bed from the corner of the room and sat down. He pushed his long black hair over his shoulder out of his face, slapped his leg and laughed. He reminded Cloud of his adopted father, who had died when he was a teenager. Always seeing the positive of a situation, and in general one of the kindest men he had ever known. 

“So, how are you feeling, I bet like you got run over by a pickup.” He laughed loudly. Then his face sobered. “Genesis called me last night and told me what had happened. I’m so sorry Cloud. Things can only get better from here though. Genesis also told me that you’re going to be living with him for a while?” Angeal looked from Genesis to Cloud, examining their expressions, but neither of them responded to his question. “Hmm...well maybe that’s yet to have been decided. Ah well, give it some thought Cloud. It wouldn’t be half as bad as staying in this depressing place.” 

Cloud felt guilty. They were both just trying to help, he could see that, he wasn’t blind. But he disliked the idea of staying in a strange home. He half wished he could stay with Angeal, but he knew that with Isabel, and with them both working all the time, that would be a bit of a strain on their relationship. Plus, if it was an option, he was sure Angeal would've offered already. 

“Yeah...you’re right. Alright.” He saw a very slight flash of anger run across Genesis' face, he was most likely frustrated that in mere moments, Angeal had been able to get him to agree, when Genesis was the one who had been at Cloud’s bedside all night, and it was, after all,  _ his _ home he was opening up to Cloud. Cloud felt a slight spike of happiness at his frustration, but he knew himself well enough to know that it was only coming from the need to retaliate in some way at having been made to feel so vulnerable in front of someone he didn’t really know. He knew it wasn’t his fault that the nurses had told him about his injuries, but he still felt violated. 

“Hey, good, good, I’m glad that that big ol’ philosophy education of yours at least gave you the ability to see logic in a situation.” He laughed again and Cloud chimed in with him.

“Bout the only thing it gave me, that and the fuckin book.” He laughed again, this time for real. He had the luxury  of a very good education even after his adopted parents had died, they had left him and their other adopted son, Zack, everything, but sadly Zack hadn’t been around long enough to inherit any of it. His adopted sister had always hated them for that. Before they died she had already married, and achieved in creating a very successful career path for herself as a psychologist, and they must’ve thought she wouldn’t need it as much as their adopted children, who had a slew of mental and emotional issues. 

He then realized that Genesis had no idea that he had a degree in philosophy and was actually an author as well. Genesis was staring at him, a confused expression on his face. He started to picture what kind of a person he must have appeared like to Genesis, an ex-con, with a history of abuse, and a drug problem.  _ Hm, well that might explain that weird look he’s giving me.  _

Genesis continued to stare at him as he and Angeal exchanged pleasantries, trading jokes about the prison and some of the inmates there. After a few minutes, Angeal excused himself, wanting to go get some sleep after a long shift. “Alright you guys, I’m gonna go get some sleep. Call me if you need anything. And Cloud,” Cloud looked up at him after he had hugged him goodbye, “Get some rest man, you look like shit.” 

Cloud laughed deeply and smiled as Angeal left the room. Genesis waved to his friend and finally a small grin lit up his face. He seemed to have been stewing over this new facet of Cloud he hadn’t been aware until now. And now having come to grips with it, seemed more pleased to be with him. Cloud was a bit annoyed with this, because education and success shouldn’t affect the value of someone, but he realized that Genesis had treated him up till now like he mattered just as much as a felon and an addict. So he pawned it off to maybe him just being excited that they had more in common now, and would have more to discuss. Either way, it was irrelevant to his current situation and he had to let certain battles go in order to move forward. 

Genesis

Cloud was relatively docile the rest of the afternoon. He fell asleep about a half hour after Angeal left, he had been given a sedative to help him sleep by a nurse upon his request. Genesis watched TV for an hour or two while he slept, then he ventured out to the cafeteria and grabbed a sandwich to take back to Cloud’s room. He walked back in and sat next to his bed, grabbing the TV remote and as he sat down, he switched it to the sci-fi channel. He wasn’t much of a TV guy, but it was nice to have the white noise to cover the loud sounds of the hospital. Cloud’s heart monitor beeped steadily, he was still knocked out, but he seemed to be content, his face was absent of his usual worried expression. Genesis leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and contemplating possibly taking a nap as well. 

He became aware of Cloud muttering in his sleep, and his lying form began twisting around in the sheets, he was obviously dreaming even with the high dosage of sleep meds.  _ Must have been how the table got knocked over last night.  _ Cloud started making distressed noises and Genesis worried if he should try to wake him or just let it be. He didn’t think it would be possible to wake him anyway when he was so drugged up. 

He was still absorbing all that had happened in the last ten hours. He recalled his conversation with the medical staff a few hours ago, he couldn't stop replaying it over and over again in his head. He realized he might be dealing with a bit of shock, things had been very touch and go last night. He had waited for hours in the ER, and the doctors had not been hopeful of Cloud’s recovery early on, but he had eventually stabilized and they had moved him into a room to recover. 

When he had been moved into a room in recovery, the doctor had taken him aside and voiced his concerns with his injuries. Substantial trauma most likely stemming from assault and abuse, given their locations. And the fact that he had tried to overdose had only confirmed their theories. Genesis had not been surprised by this, given that he had gotten a glimpse of Cloud’s shirtless chest at his house. Not to mention his inferences in their discussion the night before about his history with Reno, He was well aware of the affects this kind of trauma could cause in someone, it was the reason his brother had run away. He felt his heart ache at the very thought of Noctis. He wished he could’ve said the right things, had a little more compassion, but he had been an eighteen year old with too many responsibilities and had not listened well enough to understand how serious the situation with his brother had been. Maybe this was just his chance for redemption. And he’d be damned if he was gonna fuck up twice.  _ Not this time.  _

He found that he was nodding his head in exhaustion, and decided a nap was definitely a good idea. He took off his jacket and moved to hang it on the back of the chair, and the flimsy and partially crumpled pamphlet from earlier fell out onto the floor. He picked it up, and smoothed it out, before opening it to see if there was anything of use he could find in it. It was mostly basic instructions about finding help, reporting the crime, and reminders that the reader was not alone in their struggle. Really boring, and honestly depressing shit. He ran through the list of names on the back, making mental notes of them, then his eyes rested and fell on a name he hadn’t seen in quite some time. Sephiroth.  _ Damn. I didn’t know he specialized in cases like that.  _ Though when he ruminated on it for a minute, it made sense. He must specialize in dealing with trauma in general. He figured trauma from combat was probably similar in it’s deteriorating effects as was assault. 

Sephiroth had been the one to bring him out of the darkness, had helped him to realize there was still a life for him outside of his misery and guilt. When he had started going to him, he had a serious addiction problem, along with PTSD, and horrible anxiety. It had been a very long and difficult road to recovery, but he had put in the time, and slowly rec;aimed a semblance of who he had been before. It was after he had regained this sense of self, that they began flirting and meeting outside of the office, and not in a patient doctor setting. They had immediately clicked the moment they met, and things had progressed quickly. But Sephiroth became obsessed with his guilt of falling for a former patient, and eventually had pulled back from the relationship, justifying it as the best thing he could do for Genesis in his recovery.  _ Utter bullshit.  _ He couldn’t think about this anymore. Genesis leaned back in his chair, and it wasn’t long before he dozed off, with Sephiroth’s beautiful face following him into his dreams.

______________

Genesis awoke to the beeping of his watch, which he had set for workdays, he had forgotten to turn it off before he fell asleep. It was 5am and there was a very small sliver of the sunrise creeping through the window. Cloud was sleeping, he hoped he hadn’t woken up during the night while he had been asleep. Genesis supposed it wasn’t the end of the world if he had, but he wanted to be there for him, that’s why he had stayed at the hospital to begin with. His back killed along with his neck, after passing out in the uncomfortable chair. He stretched his arms out over his head and yawned. 

He decided to go round up some breakfast and ran downstairs to the cafeteria again, which was full mostly of night workers and nurses getting off their shifts. He sat down at an empty table with some eggs and toast, and proceeded to pull a book out of his haphazardly packed backpack. He started reading, and when he looked up next, it was around 8:30 AM. He emptied his tray and packed up his book, heading to the elevator quickly. 

When he finally made it to Cloud’s floor, he could hear yelling as he walked down the hallway, he wondered who was upset. They sounded really pissed off. He was glad he didn’t have to deal with whoever was making the racket, especially this early in the fucking morning. As he neared Cloud’s room, he realized the voices were getting louder, as he reached the door, he heard Cloud yelling profanities at someone.  _ Fuck, of course it’s Cloud.  _

He massaged his forehead with his fingers. Mentally preparing himself for whatever he was about to walk into. He took a breath and walked into the room. Cloud was standing next to his bed in the hospital gown, and he looked more angry than Genesis had ever seen him before. There was rage in his eyes.

“You need to shut the fuck up right now. I understand you’re just doing your job, but please get out of here now.” He said the last part more quietly, having seen Genesis walk in behind the man who was seated in a chair by his bedside. Cloud tugged at his IV’s and the man jerked his arm up as if to signal that he was surrendering the conversation. 

“I understand your anger at me, I do. But please don’t do anything rash, yanking those out of your arms is only going to work against your release from here. Please try and work with me, this doesn’t have to be a hostile encounter. I want to help you, but I need you to try and cooperate to the best of your ability. I know that this is painful for you, and I’m not asking you to trust me. But I assure you that everything I am asking of you is extraordinarily necessary given your situation.” The man spoke in a very soft and calming tone, smooth and reassuring. 

Genesis couldn’t put his finger on where he had heard it before, but as he studied the back of the man’s head, he realized that he recognized the bun of silver hair tied tightly up over broad shoulders.  _ Sephiroth.  _

Genesis watched Cloud closely, he seemed to be defeated by his words, and he let his arms hang at his sides, he wobbled slightly and sat back down on the edge of the bed. His face angled down at the floor. He seemed to be paying attention to Genesis now, and he looked at him pleadingly. Their eyes met, and all he could see in Cloud’s eyes was pain and sadness. It cut through Genesis like a knife and he walked over to Cloud slowly. 

“Hey, it’s gonna be ok, why don’t you lie back down for a bit.” He helped Cloud back into the bed, and covered him gently with the blankets. Then he finally turned to face the man who used to be his lover. He wondered if Sephiroth was even surprised by his presence, he was certain he had already recognized him right when he had walked into the room, but had hidden it well to keep from distracting from his conversation with Cloud. 

He looked down at the face of the sitting man, who was completely and utterly composed. He sat with his leg crossed over the other, with a clipboard and papers on his lap, twisting a pen absentmindedly in his right hand.. He looked at Genesis and his eyes were devoid of any shine of recognition or emotion.  _ Yep, definitely Sephiroth.  _

Sephiroth straightened his glasses, and continued to stare blankly at Genesis. “I think perhaps you should let us continue our conversation alone.” He glanced at Cloud, who was giving the silent treatment by having rolled over on his side away from them. “I need to assess his condition in order to discharge him.” 

Genesis glanced at Cloud as well, then walked around the bed to see his face. He seemed to have been truly rattled by something Sephiroth had said, because there were tear marks on his cheeks, which he hurriedly wiped away as soon as Genesis entered his field of vision. “Do you want me to stay or go, Cloud?” He asked concernedly. He felt as if he needed to protect him from whatever line of questioning Sephiroth had been heading down. 

“If he has to stay, then I would like you to as well if that’s ok.” Cloud responded, his voice hollow and defeated. He pulled the blankets closer up to his face, and curled tighter into a ball on the bed. 

Genesis felt a rage building inside him. The kid had had it rough enough already, was this really necessary? He wasn’t angry with Sephiroth, he was just trying to help, he was just doing his job, and he had a feeling that he wanted to help Cloud get discharged as well. He knew Sephiroth was smart enough to know that Cloud would have a faster chance of recovering in an environment outside the hospital. But it was important to make sure that he was mentally fit enough for that yet. He had wanted Sephiroth to at least acknowledge his presence, but he realized he was not going to do that while his priority was Cloud. Patient first, always. 

“Very well then, if Genesis presence makes you more comfortable, then we will proceed with him here.” That was as much acknowledgement as he assumed he would receive in this moment, and Genesis was ok with that for now. He moved to sit on the edge of Cloud’s bed, who was still laying with his back to Sephiroth, so that only Genesis could see his expression. Sephiroth didn’t seem phased by his choice in positioning and stayed seated in his chair on the other side of the bed. 

“Have you ever been on medication for your mental health symptoms?” He resumed his line of questioning, no hint in his voice that he was at all upset by Cloud’s behavior. “And if so, what medications were you taking.” 

Genesis felt relief at this banality of the question, Sephiroth was smart enough to know what kind of questions would cause the least amount of distress. He assumed he had tried a more direct line of questioning before he had arrived, and that was why Cloud had been so upset. 

“Yes, I was on a mood stabilizer, an antipsychotic, and two differnt sleep meds.” He then listed off a large train of different medication names that Genesis had a hard time understanding, but Sephiroth wrote them all down, contemplating the list carefully for a moment before returning to his questioning. 

“How long has it been since you took any of these medications? You said you were incarcerated, were you able to take any of these while imprisoned?” He asked in a very clinically professional tone. Which Genesis realized was definitely a good play on his part, Cloud would be more likely to respond if approached in a very unbiased and non-judgmental fashion. 

Cloud shifted under the blankets. “No.” He turned his head into the pillows away from Genesis, he seemed very upset still from what had transpired before he had arrived. 

Sephiroth wrote a few more notes. “Would you be willing to get back a few of these medications if I were to write you prescriptions?” 

Cloud rolled over and lay facing Sephiroth now. “Yes, I’ll take my damn meds doc, I get it. I already know I’m crazy, you don’t have to rub it in.” 

Sephiroth attached his pen to the clipboard and closed the file he had open on his lap. He pushed his glasses into a higher position on his nose, and then met Cloud’s gaze. “You’re not crazy Cloud, you’re simply not taking anything right now to treat the symptoms you struggle with. What has happened to you is extremely traumatic on top of the untreated underlying symptoms, but you do not have to let these experiences and events define you. You can, and will recover, if you are willing to seek help.” He stood up and now held the clipboard and file under one arm. “If you decide to reach out, here is my card. I have a private practice outside of the hospital, and I specialize in treating trauma and depression.” He placed his card from his upper white coat pocket onto the bedside table. “Don’t give up on yourself, you have so much to offer the world and so muchs still to gain from it. I am going to sign off on your discharge paperwork, please take care of yourself.” He strode towards the door, and Genesis decided to follow him out into the hallway. As he walked out, he signaled Cloud with a finger meaning he'd be just a few minutes. 

Cloud nodded and rolled back over to face away from the doorway. Genesis jogged slightly to catch up with the very lanky man, who was already almost halfway down the hall. If Genesis didn’t know better, he’d think he was maybe trying to avoid him. He caught up with the psychiatrist quickly and met his pace, walking alongside him down the hallway. He looked at Sephiroth, he had a gorgeous profile, high cheekbones and flawless complection, with a perfectly angled nose. His lips were rounded as if a goddess had designed his appearance to be slightly feminne in nature, and Genesis could even make out a slight upturn on the side of his mouth, just barely visible. He must not be that upset at having run into him, even under the circumstances. He knew Sephiroth was not the kind of man to jump to conclusions, he assumed he knew that he was simply trying to help Cloud, and would infer nothing else from the situation unless he knew more. 

A stray silver lock hair blew back from the side of the taller man’s face as he strode quickly down the hall, and Genesis could actually make out a smile on his face. He was slightly taken aback by this, but was also secretly very pleased by his expression.

“Genesis, nice to see you again, I hope you’ve been well. I take it you’ve assumed the role of caretaker to the young man?” He turned and met Genesis gaze, “Just as well, he will need help. These next few weeks will be a very trying time in his recovery.” 

Genesis breath halted as their eyes met, Sephiroth had pale turquoise eyes that were striking in their depth, and they spoke incredible volumes as well. He could still see the remnants of both longing and hurt in them, shreds of a future together lost. He wondered if he regretted it, or still believed he had made the right decision. 

“You seem in top form Sephiroth, it’s good to see you. Yes, Cloud will be staying with me. We just met yesterday, but I can’t in good conscience let him stay here, it doesn't seem right.” Genesis eyed him, waiting for a response. He was surprised when Sephiroth halted and turned  to him, moving to the side of the hall out of the way of the nurses, and gestured for him to follow.

Sephiroth removed his glasses, and massaged his temples, Genesis could see the dark circles under his eyes, he had obviously not been sleeping.  _ Not much has changed.  _ But he focused on what he had to say intently. 

Sephiroth exhaled and looked him in the eyes, carefully reading his expression. “Gen, I hope you realize what you are undertaking. You’re inclined to care for him because of your need to replace Noctis, but this is no small thing. He’s going to need a lot of help, and if you choose to let him stay with you, it needs to be a commitment. He will fare much worse if you care for him and then bail, he needs a long term support system, where he can put down roots and start to build back up. Do not make this decision lightly.” He hesitated then looked down, hanging his hand holding the glasses at his side, “And also keep in mind, he’s a very long way off from ever being able to fulfill the needs of a relationship. His history will influence his relationships for the rest of his life. Most aspects will heal, but there will always be a part of him that is incapable of trust. I know that’s not your intention, don’t mistake my motives for telling you this, please. I just want to make you aware. A blind man would be attracted to him, I do not judge you for feeling protective.” 

Genesis was surprised at how open he was, and he knew that Sephiroth would not just assuage him, he genuinely was not judging him for wanting to help Cloud. But he also could not leave Cloud to deal with all of this alone, he just couldn’t. He had been surprised by the connections he had made to Noctis, but realized in his heart that it was true. Sephiroth was the most intelligent, perceptive, and also the most kind individual he had ever met. He truly cared about people. He knew that he was only telling him this  _ because  _ he cared about him. 

“I understand.” He nodded his head, then met sephiroth’s gaze, he had been staring at him, carefully observing his reaction. 

Sephiroth posed with his hand that was holding his glasses under his chin, thoughtful. He searched Genesis eyes carefully, looking back and forth across his visage to read any cues that might give more insight into his emotions. He seemed satisfied, and replaced his glasses slowly. He eyes Genesis for a few more moments, then the psychiatrist handed him another card out of the chest pocket of his doctor's coat. “My office number has changed. I wouldn’t normally extend this offer to you, given our history, but he needs serious help. And I can unbiasedly say that I am really the only professional in the area well equipped enough to deal with a case like his. When you schedule an appointment with my secretary tell her that it’s imperative he get in this week, and that you spoke with me at the hospital. I would call later today.” 

“Got it, thank you.” Genesis was shocked, but hid it as best he could. He put the card in his inner coat pocket, and met Sephiroth’s now very serious gaze. 

“Do not inquire for any more details about the man named Reno. It will do no good at this point. He was agitated enough to get up out of bed when I asked him about him, even on a drip spiked with enough sedatives to knock out a small child. But I would inform the police about this man, so he is at least on their radar. We will acquire enough evidence in the coming months to put him away for good, but right now our priority is Cloud’s wellbeing.” He hesitated for a moment, then smiled. “It  _ was _ good to see you again, Gen. Take care.” He strode off down the hallway at a brisk pace. Looking over his shoulder covertly as he did so to take one last once over at his old lover, the corner of his mouth upturned in a small grin. His lab coat swirled around his calves at his quick pace, and the smell of his subdued cologne lingered in the air for a moment as he walked away. 

Genesis inhaled deeply and sighed.  _ Damn. He still loves me. _ _ What the fuck just happened?  _ He was at a loss what to think, but was beyond happy that their paths had crossed once again. He couldn't help but feel as though there was something in the universe that had greater plans at play for them, but he didn’t want to be too hopeful. But he also knew that Sephiroth would never have looked at him like that if he didn’t still desire him. It had been years since he had been his patient as well, and he felt a slight glimmer of hope that maybe one day he would be able to see it that way. 

He patted his jacket pocket that held the card, and refocused his attention on the present. He headed back to Cloud’s room, his heavy boots clacking down the hallway. When he reached the door to the room, he took a deep breath, then entered. Not much had changed, except that Cloud was now sitting up, and he appeared to be reading a book that must’ve been left by a previous patient in the room before him.  _ Impressive. He doesn’t even seem phased.  _ After his exchange with Sephiroth he had expected him to still be curled up on his side like before. He walked over to the chair on the opposite side of the bed and sat down, leaning back with a smirk at the fact that the young man had ignored his entrance entirely.

Cloud looked up from what appeared to be a cheap sci-fi thriller he was reading, just raising his eyes above the pages enough to glace casually at the redhead. “Hm...must’ve been an interesting conversation you had out there. How are the lovebirds today?” 

Genesis opened his mouth to make a retort, but Cloud continued, “Yes, yes dewy eyed and chipper no doubt.” He waved a hand at Genesis dismissively, and redirected his gaze at the pages of the short novel in his hands. Cloud then smothered what Genesis could only describe as a giggle in the book. Cloud seemed almost manic, probably from exhaustion and stress. Genesis had seen this kind of behavior before, the strange heightened euphoria after a difficult emotional event, which in this case he attributed as his conversation with the silver haired psychiatrist. He wanted to appear strong to others, and make up for the emotional display he had made before. 

Genesis cocked his head, having already deduced the reasoning behind Cloud’s strange behavior, he simply decided to go along with the ploy. If it made the younger man feel better, he didn’t see any harm in playing along. “Yes, well we had a little talk, and he was actually quite congenial.  _ And _ he also suggested you make an appointment with him, he’s considered to be one of the better practitioners in the areas in which you're struggling, and wanted me to schedule one for you later this week.” His realized his response had come off a bit more cutting than he intended, and noticed the slight shake of Cloud’s hands on the book. 

“Whatever you wanna do, doesn’t matter to me.” Cloud scoffed. “If you want to use me to get closer to your old lover it doesn't matter to me.” Cloud furrowed his eyebrows over the edge of the book. 

Genesis sat back and mulled over his response, feeling slightly offended by the accusation. That wasn’t what this was,  _ was it?  _ He fiddled with the concept in his head, then dismissed it. Sephiroth himself had been the one to suggest it, he wouldn’t let Cloud’s remarks get to him. He made the realization that Cloud might actually be slightly possessive of him. And it actually blew his mind for a moment. But it did kind of make sense. Genesis had been the one to save his life, and even before that they had taken a liking to each other rather fast. Maybe Cloud had never had anyone treat him right before, and it was simply an attraction associated with how protective he had been of him. He wasn’t at all upset by the notion of the man being possessive of him, but it was still a new revelation to have to get used to. He sort of  _ liked  _ it. 

“Cloud....dare I say you seem a little jealous?” He stared at Cloud with a sideways smirk on his face. Waiting for his reaction. 

It wasn’t what he had expected, Cloud slowly set the book down on his lap, his face skewed in a very pained expression. The heart monitors jumped and tweeted, and his breaths quickened. “I’m sorry Genesis. I didn’t mean to minimize your relationship with him. That’s not what I meant…” He stared down at the blankets over the lower half of his body. And the monitors continued to spike. He inhaled sharply and exhaled even faster. He was breathing very erratically. So erratically that a nurse walked in quickly and examined the machines, reading the levels carefully. 

“Hey hun, it’s ok, deep breaths, calm down.” She concernedly watched as the readings continued to rise. “I’ll go get you something to help you relax.” She walked out much quicker than she had walked in. 

Clouds breathing rate increased and Genesis realized he was having a panic attack. He had moved forward onto the edge of his seat hesitantly when the nurse had come in, and now he stood up and leaned over Cloud’s bed, grabbing his closest hand instinctively. “Whoa, hey there, it’s ok, I know you were just teasing me, don’t worry. Hey c’mon, breath Cloud. Breath.” He mimicked a slow inhale and exhale, hoping the blonde would follow suit. But he was too worked up already. 

Cloud rocked back and forth, he had gripped Genesis' hand back, and the other was wrapped around his own shoulders, holding himself tightly, head angled down and eyes closed. His breathing almost sounded like muffled sobs and Genesis started to get seriously worried. 

The nurse hurried back in at that moment and quickly injected a tranquilizer directly into Clouds closest arm, having instantly observed upon walking in that it would take too long if she administered it into his IV bag. She quietly shushed Cloud, and perched on the edge of his bed, whispering soft calming sounds at him.

His rocking slowed, but he was still breathing rapidly, and Genesis could now see that tears were now running down his cheeks, and he could tell that Cloud was doing everything he could to keep from crying out loud. Genesis rubbed his back in circular motions, waiting for the episode to end, wanting nothing more than to hold him, but not wanting to upset him even more with closeness that he did not want. “Cloud, it’s ok, you’re safe.” He soothed.

Cloud’s breathing slowed and he was finally able to lean back onto the pillows. Genesis continued to hold his hand, not wanting to let go until he knew the panic had subsided. Tear streaks were bright on Cloud’s pale face in the fluorescent lighting, but even in this state, he was still beautiful. His sharp features stood out against the bleached white pillowcases and the black streaks in his hair contoured the shape of his jaw. 

The nurse stood up and looked at Genesis, “He should be ok now, but call one of us if you need anything.” She patted Cloud’s other hand, which now lay limply on the sheets. Then she walked out of the room. 

Genesis grabbed the edge of the chair behind his knees with his free hand and pulled it up as close as he could to the bedside, then sat down, still holding the younger man’s hand in a tight  grasp. Cloud appeared to be very sedated, but was still plenty conscious. He kept his eyes closed, obviously not wanting to look at Genesis. 

“Hey, you don’t have to hide it from me, it’s ok Cloud.” He watched, hoping the man would give some kind of response, he was at this point incredibly worried.

Cloud cracked his eyes open, and used the hand not being clutched by Genesis to rub the streaks off of his face. He cleared his throat a few times. “I’m sorry.”

“You apologize way too much man.” Genesis cracked a small smile, trying to lighten the mood. The residual tension was still very taught in the room.

“Yeah.” Cloud responded and smirked slightly, and laughed hoarsely. Which Genesis was relieved to see and to hear.

He waited a few moments before saying anything else. Cloud had closed his eyes again and appeared to be relaxing more significantly as the sedative took more of a physical effect. He could feel the grip on his hand loosening and gently relinquished his grasp. He leaned back in his chair, still watching Cloud closely. 

Cloud opened his eyes again, and looked at Genesis coyly, in stark contrast to his worn down appearance in the hospital bed. “They’ve got some fuckin good drugs here. Can I stay?” 

Genesis laughed, and the rest of the tension in the room dissipated. “Sure, you want me to go ask?” He pointed his thumb towards the hallway and leaned in jokingly towards the bed, putting his hand up on the other side of his face, pretending to cover his mouth so no one would be able to read his lips. They both laughed at his playful reply.

Genesis relaxed a bit, but he was still perplexed at what had brought on the attack. “Cloud,” He asked more seriously, “Do you mind if I ask what triggered that?” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, and hands clasping themselves in front of him. 

Cloud just leaned his head back into the pillows, eyes closing again. His face angled up towards the ceiling. He kept his eyes shut as he answered. “Ugh…” He made a disgusted expression, waived his hand dismissively, and scoffed. “Reno used to ask me if I was jealous of other people after he had been flirting with someone. Always after we were at home for the night so I wouldn’t have an excuse to leave. And it wouldn’t matter how I replied, he would find something wrong with what I said. Didn’t matter if I denied it, he would....he would use it as an excuse to take things out on me.” 

Genesis nodded, then realized Cloud wouldn’t see his response with his closed eyes, then replied. “Makes sense. I’m sorry I brought up that memory Cloud.” 

Cloud opened his eyes and looked at him, meeting his eyes with his own. God, they were so beautiful. Sparkling blue orbs filled with sadness. “You didn’t know, don’t apologize. And to answer your question…” He paused for a moment and looked out the window, the early afternoon sun had disappeared behind the clouds, and it almost looked slightly like it was going to rain. “Yes, I think I was slightly jealous. But mostly because, well... my god, I’m not blind. You weren’t kidding about him.” 

Genesis wasn’t necessarily surprised, but he had expected it to be the other way around. Cloud being jealous of him, not of his and Sephiroth’s past relationship. He felt the tinges of disappointment flit around the edges of his thoughts, but subdued it quickly. This was not the time for  _ him _ to get jealous. “Yeah, he’s something else.” He laughed to distract himself.

They both turned as they heard the doctor walk in, he was alone, and was carrying a stack of files under one arm. He seemed preoccupied and slightly irritated by something that must have transpired outside the room. He pulled the first file in his stack out from under his arm and opened it as best he could using one hand. He scanned the chart through the bottom of his bifocals, “Hm...Cloud?” 

“Yes?” Cloud replied, crossing his arms, somehow still mustering defiance at his treatment. He watched the rather elderly looking gentleman through partially slitted eyes.

“Ah, good. It says here you’ve been cleared by psych. And as you have been cleared already on our end, you are free to go whenever you feel up to it. Just let one of the nurses know when you’re ready to discharge and they’ll help you with any other necessary paperwork that needs to be filled out.” He replaced the folder under his arm and smiled at them. “Good luck.” He nodded in their direction, turned on his heel, and walked out jauntily.

Cloud’s arms remained crossed, and he swiveled to face the other man on his right. “Good luck? Alrighty then.” He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head, and Genesis couldn’t help but laugh out loud at him. Even in this situation, Cloud’s good humor prevailed. 

“Shall we then?” He asked the younger man, he had had quite enough of the hospital and was eager to get home. Crowley would be missing him, and was probably beside himself that he had had to go without breakfast. 

Cloud was one step ahead of him, and had grabbed the panic button hanging by the bed with a very mischievous grin on his face. “This should expedite the process.” He cackled flamboyantly. 

Genesis stood up and reached over the bed to snatch it out of his hands. “Absolutely not. Those lovely nurses have been very helpful, we are not doing  _ that _ .” 

Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes at him. Genesis let go of the wire the button was hanging on and walked around the bed towards the door, heading to the nurses station to finish up the discharge process. 

As he reached the counter and started to get the attention of the woman on duty, he saw two hospital workers rush past him, he turned to see what the commotion was about, and realized they were heading into Cloud’s room. He sighed deeply and groaned, leaning forward onto the counter top, resting his elbows, and rubbing his forehead dramatically. “Really, Cloud, really?” It was going to be an interesting next few days. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep coming back for the release of the next chapters! Let me know what you think in the comments! Thank You! I couldn't help myself from releasing this one a bit earlier than planned :)


	4. Affection and Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud pushes the boundaries of his newfound friendship with Genesis. Genesis suffers an immeasurable loss.

Cloud

The lithe blonde man stood in the kitchen inside the square of light pouring out of the refrigerator. He held a lit, smoking cigarette in one hand, which rested on the open door, and a cat under his opposite arm, who meowed at him frustratedly. He had been posed in this position for some time, cold air wafting out of the fridge in waves. He was inspecting the shelves astutely, eyes hovering longingly over the bottle of bourbon laying on its side on the top shelf. 

He took a drag off the square, and held Crowley closer to his face, looking questioningly into his eyes, and cocked his head to the side. “What do you think? Yes Cloud, that’s what you said right? Hmmm.” He pushed the door to the fridge closed with his heel, and stroked Crowley’s head carefully with the free fingers on the hand that held the cigarette. “Good kitty.”

He let the feline hop out from under his arm and leaned back onto the counter, inhaling the tobacco smoke lustily. He glanced over his shoulder, but could still hear the sounds of the shower running down the hall. Genesis was still in the bathroom. He had wanted to get cleaned up after his night in the hospital. Cloud admitted to himself that he probably should too, but he wasn’t quite ready yet to go back into that bathroom. He still kind of wished that his escape from existence had worked, if only for the pleasure of removing himself from Reno’s grasp and proving him wrong. But he knew that this was a better result and he was just going to have to suck it up and deal with the consequences of life. 

He heard the shower shut off and listened for the sound of the bathroom door opening, still leaning thoughtfully against the counter smoking. He heard the rolling of drawers opening, and then the door squeaked open down the hall. He remained where he was as Genesis walked down the hall and into the living room, shirtless, and toweling his brilliant shoulder length red hair. He glanced around until he saw Cloud leaning on the counter that divided the living room from the kitchen. Crowley rubbed against his owner's legs happily. 

Cloud looked over his shoulder at Genesis and gave him a saucy grin. Genesis' leanly muscled form was covered in colorful floral tattoos, and he had never had the chance to look at them fully before. He looked him up and down, admiring the artwork, and the man underneath. Most of the tattoos even trailed below the waistband of his jeans, and Cloud couldn’t help but wonder how much of him was decorated that way. 

Genesis cocked his head sideways at Cloud, then proceeded to throw the towel over his shoulder and walk into the kitchen. He opened a cabinet on the opposite side of the room, grabbed a cup, then moved over by the sink, filling up the cup with water. 

Cloud put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the counter, then walked up behind the older man, so close that his chest pushed very slightly into Genesis' back. Genesis froze, the water in the sink was still running, but he made no move to turn it off. He carefully placed the now full cup onto the countertop next to the sink, and rested his hands on the edge of the surface. “Cloud?” 

Cloud had gotten the visceral urge to see how far he could push their newfound friendship. He had a deep need to see what this was. He was also riding along the residual waves of the anti-anxiety meds he had been given at the hospital, which gave him the blessing of being able to act without thinking too much. He placed his mouth next to Genesis' ear, almost brushing the side of the other man’s face. “I don’t really know, but I like it.” He whispered secretively. He knew that with how close he was, Genesis would be able to feel his breath on his neck. 

Genesis exhaled sharply, and his arms relaxed down to his sides. They were both almost the same height, Cloud was slightly shorter than him. Genesis backed up very slightly into Cloud, and the slight difference in positioning had put them right up against each other. Genesis moved his head towards Cloud’s. The blonde could feel the cool skin of the taller man’s face on his own. They stayed like that for a moment, just savoring the touch of each other's skin. It was a very intimate position. Cloud noticed the silkiness of Genesis hair against his ear. He decided to go one step further, and very slowly wrapped his arms up over the man’s shoulders, clasping his hands together near the redhead’s collar bones. Genesis lifted his arms and gently grasped Cloud’s wrists that were wrapped around him. They stayed like that for an unaccountable amount of time, just breathing, still, and seemingly at peace. 

Genesis then very gently removed Clouds arms, and slowly turned around, all the while keeping hold of Cloud’s forearms in his hands. When he had turned around all the way, he maneuvered Cloud’s limbs so that they were now around his waist, and wrapped his own around Cloud’s shoulders carefully. He pulled him close to his chest, and leaned his head up against the blonde’s. He hugged him close, making no move to let him go. And this time whispered into Cloud’s ear. “So do I.” Cloud felt the hair on his neck stand up at the words.

Cloud could feel the taught muscles in Genesis back against his palms. His skin was smooth and warm, but slightly cool to the touch. The air had started drying the droplets from the shower he had gotten out of only moments before. He smelled amazing, like musky cologne and soap. 

Cloud was slightly upset when Genesis loosened him from the embrace, but was too busy calming the butterflies that had taken flight in his stomach to mind too much. He looked up at the other man as they pulled apart, and their eyes met. He took in the emerald orbs, and could see shy happiness, kindness, and contentment in them. And then Genesis smiled, he was enveloped in the beauty of the man’s face. Genesis wet red hair hung down around his strong featured visage and slightly over one of his eyes, and he had on almost a bashful expression. 

Cloud leaned back a bit so he could see Genesis face fully, he brought his arms down from where they had been wrapped around him, and rested his palms on Genesis chest softly. He could feel the steady beat of his heart pumping. He traced the patterns of the ink lightly with his fingertips, and realized that under them there were almost imperceptible raised areas that must have been scars, grouped in two different areas of his chest. By the way they were scattered, he would guess bullets. The entire time, he had been making eye contact with the other man, who was still smiling gently at him, and still had his arms wrapped around his shoulders as Cloud traced the designs on his chest. 

Genesis brought his arms down and covered Cloud’s hands with his own, resting on them on his chest. They stood like that for a few more moments studying each other. The early evening light came in from the window above the sink. The rays of sun pierced through the redheads' mane and it shone an almost glossy orange color. Cloud stepped back and shook his head. “You’re so beautiful...” 

Genesis released him and stepped back, he was watching his expression with a small smile, arms hanging at his sides now. “You flatter me, Cloud.’’ He laughed and the sound was genuine. 

Cloud cleared his throat a few times, embarrassed now by his display of affection, and walked behind Genesis to turn off the sink that was still running. _Why did I do that? Now everything's gonna be weird._ He rested his hands on either side of the sink, staring out the window that faced towards the lake behind Genesis’ house. The water sparkled in the sunlight, and very gentle waves moved up and down in the slight breeze, and there were two birds perching on the railing of the deck out the back door. They cleaned their feathers happily, fluttering around each other, not a care in the world. 

Genesis moved to stand on Cloud’s right hand side, picking up his cup from the counter and taking a sip. He followed Cloud’s gaze out the window and watched ripples in the lake, obviously mulling over their encounter a moment ago, but choosing not to comment. He patted Cloud on the shoulder, then walked out of the kitchen quietly. Probably going to finish getting dressed. 

Cloud stood by the window for a few minutes, then walked into the living room and sunk down onto the couch, leaning over his knees and holding his head in his hands, contemplating what had just transpired. He knew that he wasn’t ready for any kind of romantic involvement with anyone. It would be unfair of him to them, he was so messed up in the head right now, he felt that he barely even had anything left of himself to give, much less someone like Genesis. Who, from what he had seen, deserved the best. He was a good man, kind and generous, and exceptionally desirable. He deserved someone like Sephiroth. Someone who had his shit together, was emotionally available, and well, wasn’t _broken_. Two years of being mostly isolated and at Reno’s mercy, not to mention all that had happened before he even went to prison, had taken a heavy toll on him, and he didn’t think there was any chance he would ever get that part of himself back again. 

A fragmented memory of him shooting up in the bathroom flashed in his mind’s eye, and he shuddered. _No, I definitely don’t deserve to be with him. How is he even ok with me being here?_ He looked up as Crowley hopped up next to him and laid down on the couch. He mewed at him, demanding Cloud pet him, and he complied. He stroked the feline’s fur, staring at the far wall of the living room, he noticed that the photo of Genesis’ brother was still face down above the fireplace. Last night really hadn’t been that long ago. 

He fidgeted with crossing his legs in a couple different ways, then gave up. He still didn’t have his phone back from Genesis and he wasn't sure how to ask him for it, considering the circumstances. He leaned back into the couch and pulled the cat up onto his lap. He wasn't sure what to do with himself. He examined the stacks of books strewn on the side table next to him and saw something familiar, a book titled _Eternity and Everything in Between,_ written by Lazerus Sutton. He almost laughed aloud. Genesis had read _his_ book? What were the chances? It wasn’t a very popular read, a bunch of what Cloud considered to be philosophical drabble, but still, he was proud of it. It was the one thing he had going for him in this life, and was really the only thing to have come from his expensive education as well. 

He heard Genesis pad across the carpet into the room behind him. And surprised Cloud greatly by sitting down next to him on the couch. He sighed, then turned to face him.. He was wearing a black sweater and blue dark jeans, and Cloud couldn’t help but take a moment to admire how sexy he looked. In whatever he wore for that matter.

He realized he was still wearing Genesis’ hoodie from before the hospital stay that he had given him. He had gotten it back when they discharged him, and because he had nothing else to wear, had just put it on, along with his jeans from the day before. He really wanted a shower, and planned on asking soon if he could use it. He glanced back at the book, then motioned towards it. “It seems you’re already familiar with my work.” He couldn’t help but let out what almost sounded like a giggle, he was slightly giddy and flattered that someone was reading his book. He looked back at Genesis to see his reaction.

Genesis did a double take, and looked over at the table. He read the title of the book that was resting on top of the pile. His eyes widened, and he exhaled loudly. “Holy shit, really?” He looked back at Cloud, eyes still wide with surprise.

Cloud nodded and laughed again. “Lazerus, nice to meet you man.” He extended a hand in a mock gesture of greeting, but Cloud was shocked when Genesis simply shook his hand, placing his free hand over their clasped ones and held the gesture for a moment. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lazerus.” He said, meeting Cloud’s gaze sincerely, and Cloud realized that he wasn’t mocking him, but was being utterly genuine. “Incredible work.” He had really enjoyed his work. Cloud’s mouth was hanging open slightly in shock. 

“Thank you. I didn’t expect you to have actually enjoyed it so much, damn.” He blushed and he knew Genesis saw it because he smirked at Cloud, who had hung his his head down bashfully to try and hide it from him. 

Genesis released him hand, “Fuck, what are the chances of us meeting? And that I happened to have read your book and be a big fan. And to top it off, your pen name isn’t that far off. Risen from the dead indeed, Cloud. Incredible, _truly._ ” 

Cloud didn’t know how to respond, so he simply nodded and smiled. Blushing again. Genesis had leaned back on the couch and was sitting thoughtfully, contemplating what had just happened. He lit a cigarette from his pack that had been resting on the table. 

“Oh, yeah I wanted to let you know that you are welcome to make use of the house, bathroom, kitchen, whatever you need. And since you will be staying here for a while, I’m going to set up the futon in the extra room. I’ve got a lot of stuff stored in there, but I think you’ll like it, I have a bunch of books in there. And I’ll grab some clothes for you too, I know you’re probably sick of wearing the same ones.” He hesitated, then continued. “Is there anywhere you need me to pick stuff up from…? If not it's ok, just wanted to offer.” He eyed Cloud carefully for his reaction.

Cloud was incredibly grateful to Genesis and did not want to burden him anymore. But he did have clothes and a couple boxes of things at his old roommates place where he was living before he was arrested. He had moved in with Vincent right after he left Reno, when he had finally gotten up the nerve to. “Thank you so much. And...yeah, I do have some things at my old roommate’s place. I was living with him before I got arrested, after I left...him.” He crossed his arms over his chest, Crowley had migrated over onto Genesis’ lap a bit ago. 

Genesis froze, and the cat purred at him, reaching his head up encouragingly to the hand that had ceased petting him for a moment. Genesis studied the carpet silently for a second, then resumed stroking Crowley’s head slowly. “Hm...ok I can take a trip there later today or tomorrow...would you want to come, or prefer I go alone? I don’t mind. I just don’t want you to go back to a place that has bad memories.” 

Cloud was humbled by how thoughtful that was of him to offer. “No, not at all. Vincent is a close friend of mine, he’s the one that convinced me to leave...Reno...in the first place, and offered me a place to stay. Things were good when I was living there, at least for the time that it lasted.” He had almost whispered Reno’s name, and he internally kicked himself. He really _was_ such a pussy sometimes, Reno hadn’t been wrong about that. He sighed deeply and lay his head against the back of the couch, staring at the white ceiling. “Do you still have my phone?” He asked quietly.

Genesis leaned back and stared at the ceiling along with him. “Maybe...Cloud, I’ll give it back to you. But you need to block his number. He sent you a bunch or horrible messages while you were recovering in the hospital. And I won’t lie, I deleted them.” He sighed deeply, and put his hand over his eyes, obviously trying to hide his expression behind it. “I might...have also texted him...telling him to go burn in hell and to never speak to you again...which, I’ll admit, was a little much, but jesus....someone had too. I’m sorry, I know that’s not what you would have wanted, but that motherfucker is gonna have to pay for what he’s done. And that starts with you not giving him what he wants.”

Cloud jumped slightly as he felt a hand cover his own, resting on his thigh closest to the redhead. He looked down and studied the hand on top of his, trying to relax. But he couldn't stop the massive wave of shock that was building up inside him. He felt his pulse quicken with fear at the news of what Genesis had said. Reno would flip shit. At what was said, but more so that it had come from someone besides him. He was utterly terrified of what Reno would do if he ever saw him again, and knew that he would break completely this time if he was subjected to whatever the man wanted. He knew it deep down in his gut that he would never be able to withstand that same kind of treatment again. Cloud felt sweat on his palms and his breathing became more rapid. _Not again, I can’t do that again. Never again._

The panic started to rise up into his throat from the tightness in his chest where it had originated. _Fuck. I also can’t flip shit again. Not now._ He tried to steady his breathing, but it was not helping in the slightest. 

Genesis seemed to have noticed and he removed his hand from over Cloud’s and stood up off the couch, sending Crowley off in a huff. He quickly headed over to the back door and reached into his backpack which was sitting on a lone chair by the entrance. Cloud heard the shake of a pill bottle that the older man successfully retrieved from inside the depths of the pack. He strode urgently back over to Cloud and sat back down next to him, offering him the bottle in one hand. “They said to take a few of these if you felt another attack coming on. Here.” 

Cloud was almost on the precipice of the panic and gratefully accepted the bottle. He opened the bottle and poured out three tablets into his hand and swallowed them dry. He replaced the cap and handed it back to Genesis. He assumed that Genesis would not want him to keep the bottle with him, given that he had a tendency towards addictive use. It irked him, but if he was honest with himself, he knew that if it was in his possession he would take them all by tomorrow. 

Genesis took the bottle back and set it carefully on the table. Then he did something which surprised Cloud greatly. He scooted closer to him on the couch, and opened his arms and encircled Cloud gently with them. Holding his narrow shouldered frame against his chest. He just held him there, and Cloud couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this safe or comforted by someone. It was a very foriegn feeling to him. He didn’t feel like he needed to run, or needed to brush him off either, faking he was fine. He felt that he was just being accepted for what he was, and that he wasn’t being shunned for his reaction or his anxiety in the situation. It felt incredible actually, and quite quickly he felt his panic subsiding, a combination of Genesis’ arms and the pills.

As he relaxed, he felt his shoulders lay back against the other man’s chest, and he reached up and held Genesis’ wrists. He felt the soft material of the sweater under his fingertips. He knew that his sense of touch was intensified due to the medication right now, and he enjoyed the sensation, along with the comfort of his embrace. He sighed slightly under his breath, and felt the arms tighten around him into a hug. He couldn’t help but smile slightly, and they both relaxed into the back of the couch in unison, still holding one another. Genesis chin rested on top of Cloud’s head, and he relaxed even further, he had no intention to remove himself from the position, he would enjoy this as long as it lasted. Then he found himself surprised even further by Genesis planting a soft kiss on the top of his head. 

Cloud sat still for a moment, then swiveled his head around to look at the redhead’s face, he still held the other man’s wrists in his hands gently. Genesis' expression was unreadable, he seemed thoughtful, but also wanted to give Cloud no clues as to what was on his mind. He almost seemed slightly worried in fact, and Cloud watched as a few different emotions flitted across his face, worry, sadness, and a bit of anger even. He still held Cloud close to him, and seemed quite, he seemed to be comforted as well by the embrace, and made no move to release him. Cloud continued to watch his expressions, and Genesis finally seemed to come out of his trance and looked back down at him, a small frown creasing the corners of his mouth.

“It makes me so angry that he could do this to you.” His eyebrows furrowed slightly and he pulled Cloud slightly closer to his chest. “I know that you don’t know me that well Cloud, but I need you to know that I will not let him lay a hand on you ever again. I swear it.” Now his face showed genuine rage. And Cloud was taken slightly aback at it. He never wanted to get on Genesis’ bad side, that he was sure of. 

Genesis expression softened now and he looked down again at Cloud’s face, reaching one of his hands up to delicately place a small stray lock of his hair behind his ear. Cloud was completely at a loss for how to react. He gazed in open incredulity at the redhead, comforted, but still shocked at the show of emotion Genesis was giving. He simply blinked and nodded slowly in response, gripping tighter onto the other man’s forearms, not wanting to be made to let go. 

Genesis seemed to understand, and simply held him. He spoke again, this time almost inaudibly. “I’ve got you.” 

They remained for a couple more minutes like that, Genesis arms wrapped around him, occasionally stroking his hair lightly with one of his hands, and Cloud still clinging onto him shamelessly. Eventually, Cloud felt the perfect moment had ended, and he moved slightly to unwrap himself from the man’s hold. Genesis unwrapped his arms, almost reluctantly. And then leaned back on the couch. thinking. Cloud didn’t know what he should do now, and cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. 

“Would you mind if I took a shower?” He looked at Genesis questioningly. Crowley had come up to sit by both their feet and was glaring at them jealously. He was none too pleased that he had taken third place in the cuddle competition that he had observed in frustrated silence. 

Genesis was still pondering something, his forehead was furrowed in focus, he seemed almost shaken out of his thoughts by Cloud’s question. “Of course, towels are in the closet down the hall. I’ll get you some clothes for after.” 

Cloud nodded, and stood up from the couch slowly. He walked down the hallway, and as quietly as he could grabbed a soft blue towel from the top of the stack of the ones folded in the closet. He threw it over a shoulder and walked to the bathroom. The door was open and the lights were still on, he stood in the doorway and observed the tiles on the floor. Images flooded back to him of the night before. He closed his eyes, thinking of the message Reno had sent him, daring him to take his own life. He held his temples in his hand, rubbing them, hoping it would take the memories away. Like he needed any more of those. He felt a wave of anger wash through him and he grabbed the towel from his shoulder, smacking it across the wooden door with a slap. He growled angrily and then walked into the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him. 

Genesis

Genesis watched as the bathroom door slammed loudly closed behind Cloud. He was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, holding a pair of clothes in his arms. Cloud had probably thought Genesis was still in the other room, he did walk rather stealthily, he had been told that by Angeal before. He simply raised an eyebrow at Cloud’s irregular display of anger, then walked down the hall and set the clothes, a pair of black jeans and a plain light blue t-shirt, on the floor in front of the door. 

He sighed, then walked back down the hall to the kitchen. He was still mentally caught up in the moment that he and the blonde had had not moments earlier. He was afraid he had gone a bit too far, especially when he had sworn to protect him. But there was nothing he could do to take it back now and he had grown used to boxing up the worries or fears he had in his mind and compartmentalizing. He decided to focus more on the present. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, realized there was nothing besides leftover takeout, and ruffled through the different restaurant menus that were hanging on the fridge door. He was at a loss what to pick, and decided to wait for Cloud before deciding on one. 

He peered back inside the fridge and noticed the bottle of bourbon on the top shelf. He glanced guiltily over his shoulder, then snatched the bottle off the shelf. He knew Cloud couldn’t possibly be done showering yet, so he leaned his back against the sink and took a few swigs from the bottle, hissing through his teeth after the liquor hit his throat. He knew it had been an extremely stressful night and his subconscious was seeking solace in the intoxication of alcohol. But at the moment he didn’t give a fuck. He took two more sips after that, then twisted the cap back on and replaced it in the fridge. 

He did feel a slight buzz from the couple shots worth he had consumed, and he rolled up the sleeves of his black sweater as he felt the heat from the liquor spread through him. He turned and grabbed his still half full water cup from beside the sink and swished the water around in his mouth, spitting the remnants into the sink and wiping his mouth. 

He walked into the living room and sat back on the couch, and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. There was a small TV in the corner next to the fireplace, and he turned the device on. He had left it on the news channel last time, and decided that would do for now. He watched absentmindedly as different headlines scrolled across the bottom of the screen. Car crashes, political election dogma, and a few inmate escapes. Nothing that interesting. He realized with a bit of guilt that he was waiting for Cloud more longingly than he had expected. He mentally smacked himself. _This is ridiculous, let the man be. Last thing he needs to be focusing on is you._

He angrily watched the TV, contemplating his emotions carefully. He regretted the couple shots he had taken. His gaze focused on the bottle that rested on the glass-topped table in front of him. He should probably put them away somewhere, he figured if Cloud had trusted himself with them he wouldn’t have left them on the table. At least the younger man knew himself well enough not to play around with the benzos. He picked up the pill bottle and inspected the instructions. The prescription had been written by Sephiroth, his name was in the prescriber box on the label. His eyes scrolled across the rest of the notes, “Take two by mouth daily as needed.” He laughed under his breath. _Well alright then, Cloud. I guess I can let that one slip._ He thought as he recalled the other man popping three into his mouth earlier. 

At that moment he heard the bathroom door open, then shut quickly again. He must’ve found the clothes outside the door. Genesis hopped up off the couch, still holding the prescription bottle, and stode down the hall to his room. He pushed open the door and walked around his bed, opening his nightstand drawer and placed the bottle next to his gun, closing the drawer with a small thunk. He went back out into the living room and plopped back down onto the sofa. Propping his booted feet up onto the table top and leaning back into the cushions with a sigh. 

Cloud surprised him with a cough, he was standing in the entrance to the living room from the hall, at the corner of the couch. Genesis glanced over at him quickly, having been surprised out of his contemplation of the world's problems on the television. He looked the younger man up and down, his wet hair fell down around his shoulders in waves, and the t-shirt clung to his angular frame attractively. The pants seemed to have fit him perfectly, Genesis was happy at this because this meant they could share clothes at least for the time being. 

Genesis patted on the seat of the sofa next to him, in a gesture to welcome Cloud to sit next to him. The other man studied him for a moment, then he sat down, about a foot away from the redhead. “Been seeing what’s going on in the world, nothing new it seems.” He said, eyeing the TV with a disinterested glare. 

Cloud nodded, then pulled his feet onto the couch next to himself and pushed his head under Genesis’ arm, putting his still wet haired head in the older man’s lap. He made no other movement, just laid there, eyes closed.

“Hey, you ok?” He stroked Cloud’s damp hair and looked at him questioningly. The blonde didn’t move a muscle, just laid there, seemingly exhausted mentally, and not deigning to respond. Genesis decided to let it go and let him relax. He watched the TV for the next ten minutes or so, playing with Cloud’s hair gently and pondering existence and the oddness of all that had happened in the past forty-eight hours. Genesis felt Cloud shift his weight and he slinked out from under his arm slowly, sitting back up.

Cloud seemed to have decided to pretend that he hadn’t just been laying in the other man’s lap and laughed at something humorous on the TV to distract from it. He turned and smiled big at Genesis, he smirked and there was a twinkle in his eyes as he leaned towards him and laughed again. “Hm, you smell like that bottle of bourbon I saw in your fridge.” The blonde sat back on the sofa, crossing his arms mischievously in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at the redhead.

Genesis swore and crossed his arms in denial. He waved a hand in the air dismissively. “Nah, you’re just experiencing phantom smells.” He held a serious expression for a moment then it broke apart and he laughed loudly. “Fuck, sorry Cloud, just was a hard night...didn’t know if you’d make it man.” He got slightly serious again and watched the other man’s expression. 

Cloud had been laughing with him, then a more somber expression flashed across his face. “I know...I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me, I’m happy to be alive, I am. And if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be here right now. Thank you.” He smiled slightly, but was still very serious in appearance. 

Genesis nodded. “Of course, Cloud. I mean I could never let someone die on my watch, whether I knew them well or not. I have one question though, how the fuck did you get the dope? You were barely ever out of my sight last night. I kept wondering that at the hospital.” 

Cloud shook his head, “Oh that, yeah I picked up from the front desk lady at the motel, she knew me from before I went away. I used to pick up from her all the time, especially when I was away from Reno for a night or two when we were fighting, I’d get a room and just shoot up there.” He looked down at the carpet shamefully. “I’m sorry, I never intended to use it here. I didn’t plan on it or anything, I swear.” He continued not to meet the other man’s gaze. Observing the grain of the carpet carefully.

Genesis nodded, “That’s the only option I thought possible, that or the gas station, but I could see you through the window the whole time, so I figured that one was a lot less likely.” He noticed how pained Cloud’s expression was and the hand on his face, hiding his eyes and added, “Hey man it’s ok, I know you didn’t plan it. And I know it was your conversation with him that triggered you to do it. It’s in the past Cloud, I forgive you, I’m not mad at you. Just... I’m really fuckin glad you made it.” 

Cloud removed the hand from over his face and just sat there, still staring at the carpet. He looked up and leaned his head sideways. “So...does that mean I can hit that bottle? Or is that off limits too…?” He looked back down at the carpet, then around the room, waiting for a response. 

Genesis sighed. They’d had an incredibly long night and morning, and he would only control Cloud’s recovery so much. He wasn’t going to be the substance police for the younger man, he could make his own choices. “Yeah, go ahead, just take it easy, ok? Your body’s still repairing itself.” 

Cloud almost jumped up off the couch, and an almost smirk of a smile lit up his face. Genesis heard him walk off into the kitchen, but focused his attention back onto the TV, reading the headlines scrolling across the bottom of the screen. “Prison guard killed in inmate riot at the state penitentiary…” He read it again as the message repeated a second time, and felt a spike of dread creep up into his stomach. An image flashed up onto the screen, and he dropped the cigarette he had lit when Cloud had left the room. He stopped breathing for a moment, Angeal’s face was plastered across the television screen, a starkly lit photo of what must have been his ID for the prison. Genesis breaths shuddered in and out, his hands began to shake, and he made a guttural cough as he choked on the air in his lungs.

At that moment, Cloud walked into the room, holding a small glass filled with a medial amount of the liquor in it. He stopped dead in his tracks, standing in the entrance to the living room and staring blankly at the TV. He looked quickly at Genesis form, frozen still with his hand slightly outstretched in the position it had been before he dropped the cigarette. 

Cloud stood frozen as well, but quickly set the glass down on the table and moved swiftly over to Genesis, he knelt down and grabbed the still smoldering cigarette and threw it into the chipped ashtray with a muttered curse. He placed his hands on Genesis’ knees and spoke in a hushed voice. “Hey, look at me, Gen.” He had never before used that moniker of Genesis name before now, and Genesis turned to look at him. 

Genesis was floating off outside his skull, hovering around his own head, dissociating as best he could from the moment. He could not feel this right now, he couldn't, this was too much, too surreal. _What the fuck is happening._

He felt the dryness on his lips and tried to close his mouth, but was too far outside of himself now to command his body to do anything at this point. He tried to form a response to Cloud, but gave up quickly. Cloud seemed to recognize his level of shock. He took his hands in his own, which were shaking. The blonde held them for a moment, unsure, then settled on resting them down very slowly onto the other man’s knees. The rest of Genesis’ body was racked with slow tremors now. Cloud moved up onto the couch next to him. He very carefully pressed his hands against Genesis’ shoulders, pushing him back into the couch slowly.

Genesis made no move to resist and felt his body lay back onto the sofa. He stared at the ceiling counting the small deformities of the paint layer. He was completely outside his body now and with no intention to return any time soon. 

Cloud surveyed his reaction for a moment, then quickly stood up from the sofa and strode off down the hallway. Genesis simply continued to watch the ceiling for indiscrepancies in the paint layers or bumps in the wood underneath. He couldn’t do this no, not now. _What the fuck is going on. This doesn’t make any sense. Fuck Angeal, what happened??_

He heard muffled sounds down the hallway which sounded like doors and drawers being opened. Then heard the sound of footsteps come from down the hall into the living room. Cloud walked around the side of the couch, and sat back down next to him. There were sounds of a pill bottle being opened, then he saw Cloud hold up two pills and a glass of water in front of him. “Please just take these, I know you don’t want to, but just trust me.”

Genesis looked down at the outstretched items held in front of him, and he strained to move his still shaking hands. He grasped the cup and the water shook in the glass. He did his best and swallowed the pills without a second thought. He could care less what they were. He didn’t care about anything right now. Nothing mattered anymore. His best friend was dead. There was nothing left _to_ care about. He thoughtlessly handed the glass back to Cloud and slumped back into the sofa cushions, hoping with any luck they would completely envelope him and he would disappear. He felt something move against his leg, but made no move in response to the pressure. 

“Easy, just grabbing my phone, sorry Gen.” Cloud gently removed his phone from Genesis' pocket then stood up swiftly off the sofa, walking out of the room quickly. He slowly realized that Cloud must be making a call, but didn’t care who to or what about. He could hear the quiet sounds of a conversation in the other room. He also heard the fridge opening and closing. He could care less right now about whatever Cloud was doing. He just wanted the world around him to cease existing. 

Cloud walked back into the room and sat next to him. He didn’t say anything, just watched as new headlines popped up on the screen. The news about Angeal’s death seemed so trivial to the world. He couldn’t wrap his head around how such a monumental loss to humanity could be such a little thing to everyone else besides him in the world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! :)


	5. More Than Meets The Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth comes to Genesis' aid. Cloud explains that there is more going on than any of them had previously thought. Suspicions on the circumstances behind Angeal's death are considered.

Sephiroth

The imposing man walked briskly toward the building that held his office. It was in fact his home, and he ran a small private practice on one half of the first floor. He was just getting home from his rounds at the hospital. He was called in on an as needed basis for any cases that might require his skill set, or for any patients they received that had been his before the hospital. Which happened quite often as he treated many severe cases. 

He was carrying a black leather bag over his shoulder filled with charts and paperwork from the hospital, and was wearing a long black coat over his light blue button down, black slacks and tie. He walked across the street from where he had found a spot to park his car, and he clicked the locking mechanism on his keyring, the car tweeted a small sound in response. He pocketed the keys and climbed the curb on the other side of the street with a few quick strides, walking up the concrete steps that led up the rather steep incline of grass in front of the house. 

The house was overall quite modest. A two story mostly white brick home with white wooden paneling angled around the sides of the windows and around the front door. The windows were wide and had black shutters on their sides. Most of the windows had white or black curtains hanging part way closed inside them, and not much of the inside of the house could be seen from outside. There were a couple trimmed hedges on either side of the stone walkway to the house after the steps, and a few scattered spinklings of colorful flowerbeds in front of the basement windows and along the sides of the bushes. 

He pulled open the front door, which was always unlocked to allow for scheduled clients to enter, and walked into the large front hall of the home. There was a colorful rug decorated with mostly blue, purple, and white floral patterns on the floor, and There were two racks for coats on either side of the foye and a set of double doors that led straight into the rest of the house. He hung his coat, then instead turned to the doorway on the left that led into a spacious room that would typically function as a living room if the house, which had not been modified to have an office section on one side. The waiting room had large windows on the two outer walls, and smattering of comfortable dark blue armchairs and two couches, with a white wooden coffee table in front of the largest sofa and matching end tables next to the armchairs. There was also another rug that matched the one in the foyer spread over white wood floor panels. The room was tastefully decorated with a few almost real looking plants, and there were helpful brochures laid out on the coffee table.

There was one person seated in the room, a small woman in a white coat. She recognized him and gave him a small smile. He nodded and smiled in return, then walked up to the counter that was built off from the wall. His secretary was seated behind the waist high counter, rolling about on her office chair, filing paperwork and speaking with someone on her headset. 

He waved to her and she looked up, smiling at him. “Good afternoon! I’ll run back your charts as soon as I finish this call.” She turned back to filing her paperwork,and he nodded, walking down the short hall to the right of the counter. He opened the door at the end of the hallway and walked into his office, which was another spacious room that was at the back half of the house. It had two bay windows with plants resting in them, one behind the medium sized desk and the other on the left outer wall of the room. There was a couch to the left of him by the entrance, and two armchairs in front of the desk. all of the furniture was dark blue suede like in the waiting room, and the large rug that covered most of the floor matched as well. The windows had tall white curtains hanging in front of them, and were about halfway open, allowing some of the midday sun to pour in. He placed his bag down and sat in the chair behind the desk, picking up a few of the envelopes in the mail tray, and flipped through them absentmindedly, crossing his legs and readjusting his glasses to the correct place on his nose. 

He heard the door to the office open and he looked up through the bottom of his glasses to see his assistant walk in, a concerned expression on her face. He set the mail back down and leaned back in his chair as she closed the door behind her and walked over to stand by the side of his desk. She placed the files she was carrying clutched to her chest down and straightened her black sweater dress uncomfortably. 

Sephiroth rested the palms of his hands against each other thoughtfully and looked at her over the tops of his glasses now, reading her expression carefully. “What’s wrong Elena? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

She glanced out the window, her blonde hair shone palely in the afternoon light. But she looked genuinely concerned about something. “A man just called, he said his name was Cloud...? He said he’s with Genesis and that he’s really concerned about him. Apparently someone by the name of Angeal just died, and he’s not sure what to do. He just asked me to tell you and that was it. He said that you two met in the hospital this morning…?” She looked at him now confused, but she was no stranger to who Genesis was to him, and seemed to know that the news was not good, no matter the strangeness of who she had received the call from. 

Sephiroth looked out the window now as well. The flower beds under the window were colorful spots under the cloudy sunlight, and they were distracting enough to calm him slightly. This was not good news whatsoever. Foremost that one of his rather good friends had passed, they rarely spoke, since their friendship had been based mostly on his relationship to Genesis, but he was still hit hard by the news of the loss. But his main concern was one, now two very emotionally unstable and rather volatile people were now alone together. And that situation could only get worse as time passed. He tried to view this through as logical of a lense as he could, but he was emotionally attached to Genesis in a very deep way. And the very thought of him in this much pain was unbearable to him. 

Genesis had recovered most of his mental faculties that he had suffered due to his PTSD years ago, but a good portion of his recovery had been utilizing his ability to lean on those close to him. Angeal had been his closest friend for years before he and Genesis had even met. They had even faced combat together when they were still in the military. And left without that, Sephiroth was doubtful of how Genesis would fare in this situation. 

He himself hadn’t been enlisted at the same time as them, as he was a few years older and had already started going to medical school by then. But he could not stand by and just let this situation deteriorate into something worse than it already was. He knew that it was questionable to put himself smack dab right back into the middle of Genesis’ life, but he was no longer his patient, and technically Cloud wasn’t yet either. He had to justify it logically in his mind, but he was having a very hard time with the majority of the specifics. _Time’s wasting, figure out the details later._

Elena was still standing by his desk, waiting for a response concernedly. She was searching his expression for some clue as to how the news had affected him, but he was not the type to give away any of his thoughts visibly. “Would you like me to call him back…?” 

Sephiroth shook his head and stood up swiftly from his desk chair, he grabbed his shoulder bag and started pulling the files out of it, laying most of them in a stack on its surface. “No. Please send whoever is in the waiting room home and apologize to them. I will be taking a sick day. And please reschedule any of the other appointments for later this week. See how much of tomorrow morning you can free up as well. Thank you Elena, I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Please feel free to leave whenever you are done making the necessary calls, I will not be needing you in the office the rest of the day.” 

“Ok, sure. Just please...be careful. And good luck.” She added as she grabbed the files she had brought into the office a few minutes before back up off his desk, and slowly walked out of the office, closing the door behind her softly.

Sephiroth finished stacking the hospital folders on his desk, a bit more messily than he usually would. Then grabbed his bag and walked over to the cabinet in the corner of the room behind the desk. He opened it hesitantly, _Should I? Will that be necessary? Better safe than sorry._ He opened the cabinet and pulled out two different pill bottles, and a small black pack, placing them in his leather bag, and clipping it closed. He realized his heart was racing, and felt his neck with two fingers, standing facing his desk, and the bag swung over his shoulder. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing for a moment, taking a few slow inhales and exhales. He hadn't realized how upset he had been by the news of Angeal’s death, and he didn’t realize how much anxiety would be brought on by the thought of seeing Genesis again. Cloud he could handle, but the very thought of his ex-lover in pain distraught him.

He stood for a few more moments until he had collected himself, then he straightened the strap of the bag on his shoulder and walked out of the office, flipping the lightswitch by the door as he left. He strode down the hall at a brisk pace, he overheard Elena speaking on the phone to a client as he walked past the waiting room counter, but did not bother to say anything to her, she was on a call anyway. The patient who had been sitting on the couch as he walked in was gone, and he continued quickly out of the room into the foye. Sephiroth threw on his coat as fast as he could, buttoning it up with as much precision as a military officer called out to drill, then he swept through the front door, his bag swinging by his side. 

_____________

Sephiroth had decided just to show up at Genesis’ house. There was a very low probability that either of them had left the house, given the situation, and Cloud should be resting anyway. He knew it was not a good sign that Cloud had called, it either meant that Genesis had asked him to, because he didn’t want to himself, or worse, that Genesis was incapable of making the call himself. If it was the latter, he assumed that Genesis was in shock and had completely disassociated from himself. When he had bouts of this years before, it had been incredibly difficult to pull him out of them. 

The car ground loudly up the driveway to the single story home, the black curtains in the windows were all closed on the front of the building, giving it a slightly ominous appearance. He stopped next to the side of the house behind Genesis’ vehicle, unbuckled his seatbelt, and sat for a second, gathering his emotions. It was surreal to be back here. The last time he was here, he had broken things off with Genesis and it had been an exchange filled with tears, shouting, and guilt. He remembered like it was yesterday, standing out on the driveway, hugging the redhead one last time, before getting in his car and driving away. Genesis had stood at the end of the driveway watching him back out, and until he had disappeared out of view behind the pine trees as he drove down the road. 

Sephiroth sighed, a sound filled with sadness and regret. Genesis truly had been the best thing in his life, and he had thrown it all away, just because it upset his sensibilities as a practitioner. He had never really grasped how much he despised himself because of it, until now, faced with the decision to go into the home and start the whole dance over again. But this time, he walked into it a changed man, his priorities had matured and he knew now, after the last few years of being alone and isolated, that love was really, as they said, the most important part of a man’s life. But could things ever really go back to the way they had been before, with everything that had happened, and all the hurt he had caused? He would take it all back in this very moment if he could, but the finality of time was against him. He simply wished silently into the ether, that he stay true to his inner self this time, and expose that part of himself that he worked so hard to hide. 

He realized there was sweat forming on his palms and rubbed them against his pant legs. He grabbed his bag from off the passenger seat, shouldered it, and climbed out of the car. He walked up the driveway, feet crunching on the gravel, then around the back of the house, stepping up the porch steps in a few quick strides. He glanced out at the lake, the waves rippled softly in the grey light. The sun had dimmed behind the cloudy skies as he had driven over, and it almost looked like rain again. Everything was still, and he only heard the quiet chatter of a few birds that flitted between the trees that had grown up years ago along the sides of the deck. 

He tried the sliding doors, but they were locked, and the curtains were pulled closed. He grabbed his keyring out of his pocket, and sifted through them to find the one with a red cap on the end of it. Genesis had made him a copy years ago, and even after their relationship had ended, he had never once asked for it back, Genesis was not the kind of man that trusted easily, much less at all, but he had given Sephiroth his complete and utter faith. Never once had he questioned how much Sephiroth cared about him, at least not until after he had left. He unlocked the door and slid it open, peeling back the curtains and walking through. He slid the door closed behind him, then turned, and was not expecting at all what he saw next. 

Cloud stood in front of him, one arm extended and hand holding a gun pointed right at him. The blonde looked utterly devoid of all expression, his mouth poised in a thin line, eyebrows furrowed together in extreme focus. There was no sign of fear, just steady concentration. He was wearing a shirt that he recognized to be one of Genesis, but was wearing a leather jacket over it. Cloud held the position for almost thirty seconds, Sephiroth stood with his arms at his sides, having chosen what he thought was the best option: not to react or say anything. 

Cloud looked at him, studying his appearance, then lowered the weapon to his side and stepped back a few paces. “Sorry, expected you to be someone else.” He motioned sideways with his head towards the living room, “He’s in there, hasn’t moved since I called you.” He put the gun into the back waistband of his jeans and started walking into the main room. “Thanks for coming, I didn’t know who else to call.” 

Sephiroth was extremely surprised at what he had walked into, but he was no stranger to having a gun pointed at him, and now that Cloud knew it was him, things should be fine. He would ask later, but for now his priority was Genesis. 

He walked into the living room, taking in his surroundings. Cloud followed closely behind him. The TV was on, the newscaster could be heard giving information on a bank robbery in a different part of the country. There were books scattered about on the coffee table, and a glass of what he assumed was liquor sitting on one end of it as well. Genesis was sitting on the sofa, leaning back into the cushions, muscles limp, and staring at the carpet across the room. He was wearing one of his many black sweaters and dark jeans. His hands lay on his lap motionlessly, and he appeared to be somewhere else entirely, expression blank. 

Sephiroth almost jumped when he felt something rub against his legs. It was Crowley, apparently very happy to see him again. He looked down at the feline, he met his eyes and meowed at him demandingly. Sephiroth ignored him for the time being, and stepped over the cat gingerly. He walked over to one of the armchairs across from the couch and set his bag down off his shoulder. Then he unbuttoned his coat and threw it over the back of the chair as well. 

Cloud stood, arms crossed over his chest, in the corner of the room next to the other armchair, watching him silently, obviously still on high alert. Sephiroth knew that Genesis’ state was probably upsetting to him, but knew there must be something else going on that he was unaware of. He walked over to Genesis and knelt down in front of him. “Hey Gen, I’m here. Talk to me, c’mon.” He said in a quiet soothing tone. Genesis didn’t react, and instead continued to stare across the room. He had placed his hands on Genesis' knees as he knelt down, hoping the contact would break the trance, but no such luck. He slowly moved his hand across Genesis’ field of vision, searching for any eye movement, but there was no reaction to that either. “Sit tight, we’ll get you out of there, hang on.” He patted one of his hands gently on the other man’s knee as he stood up again. 

“Cloud, can you get me a cold wet rag, please?” Cloud had grabbed the glass up off of the table and sat down in one of the armchairs. Watching the interaction between them broodingly. He stood up quickly when asked though, to retrieve what Sephiroth had asked for, taking a quick sip from the glass as he stood up. He walked off down the hallway quickly. 

Sephiroth had walked back to the chair that held his bag, and he opened it swiftly, grabbing the small black zipper pouch from its contents. He unzipped and unfolded it, it held two small glass bottles and two syringes that were strapped to the inside. He removed one of the syringes and unwrapped it from the packaging, tearing a corner of the tightly sealed package open with his teeth. He tossed the discarded wrapper onto the coffee table, then removed one of the glass bottles from the pouch as well, and began filling the syringe with a small measured amount of the clear liquid. He flicked the side of the syringe expertly, then walked back over around the table to Genesis, who still sat motionless on the sofa. 

Cloud walked back into the room and came up behind him holding a folded wet cloth outstretched in his hand. His expression was still unreadable, but he seemed to have taken in the syringe in Sephiroth’s hand and realized what he was doing. He made no comment on it though, obviously trusting that Sephiroth was more than well-qualified enough to administer the injection.

Sephiroth knelt down again in front of the redhead, he carefully rolled up one of the sweater sleeves, and tapped along his inner elbow for a vein, the skin there was covered in scar tissue, it could almost go unnoticed with all his tattoos, but it could be seen if you were focusing on the area closely. He heard Cloud inhale sharply behind him, he must not have known that Genesis had been a heavy user in the past. He found a vein quickly and injected the syringe into his arm. He placed the empty device down behind him on the table with one arm, and grasped Genesis hand with his other hand. He grabbed the towel from Cloud’s grasp finally, and dabbed it gently along Genesis temples, and then his wrists, alternating between the sensitive skin there, utilizing the cold sensations to help him reconnect to his physical body. It should only be a matter of seconds before he returned to himself. 

On cue, he heard Genesis breathing quicken into gasps, and he put the towel down onto the coffee table as well. Placing his now free hand on the man’s thigh comfortingly. The redhead gasped, he leaned forward, clutching onto Sephiroth's arms pleadingly. His eyes were opening and shutting at rapid speeds and then tears began to run slowly out of them. His gasps had turned fully into sobs now and he gripped Sephiroth’s arms so hard that he felt the nails dig in. Sephiroth moved himself up onto the couch next to the man and put his hand on the back of Genesis' head comfortingly, pulling his upper body into his chest and encircling his arms around him. He could feel Genesis' body racked by waves of sadness and he held him close, whispering calming plaintiffs into his ear, trying as best he could to calm him.

“He’s gone Seph, he’s gone. Angeal’s dead.” Genesis threw his clenched fist into the couch hard. And Sephiroth tried his best to get him to relax. He knew that the only way to pull Genesis out of a fit like this was to administer a stimulant, but when he came out of it, there was no way to predict how he would process the emotions he had been trying to deal with in the trance-like state. Sometimes anger was the result of being forced to acknowledge the emotions, and he needed to do his best to keep the redhead from becoming violent. He would never harm anyone, but he could destroy furniture or inanimate objects. 

“Shh Gen, shh...hey, I know.” He tried to keep Genesis pulled close in his arms, but now that he had been woken from his earlier state, he was not having it. He pushed Sephiroth’s arms aside and stood up. He kicked the edge of the couch with his heavily booted foot so hard that the sound shook through the room loudly. Then he grabbed the side of his head with white knuckled hands shaking it, and walked out of the living room and down the hall. Sephiroth just stayed sitting on the couch calmly. This had to run its course and it was best if he did not place himself in the way. He heard a door down the hall close, and could hear things hitting the carpeted floor, small thuds and crashes. 

Cloud had seated himself in the chair not holding Sephiroth’s bag, and was sipping the drink he must have poured earlier, fingers massaging his temples. He had not spoken a single word during the whole encounter. He looked exhausted, there were dark circles under his eyes. His hair, that was not pulled back anymore like it had been in the hospital, hung in tangled waves around his shoulders. He looked up and met Sephiroth’s observant gaze, then quickly averted his eyes down the hall, towards the sound of Genesis exerting his rage on the objects in his bedroom.

Sephiroth took the time to put the items from the pouch back into his bag, including the used needle, then walked into the kitchen to dispose of the wrapper and empty syringe. He filled himself a glass with water from the sink and carried it back into the living room, and sat back down on the couch. He could hear that the noises from the bedroom had quieted and was not surprised when a few minutes later Genesis reappeared from down the hallway and walked slowly into the kitchen. 

Genesis appeared to have calmed considerably, and his expression was closed off, devoid of the pain he felt inside. He chose not to meet either of their gazes as he walked off into the kitchen, rolling the sleeve of the arm where he had been injected back down to his wrist. Sephiroth heard the water running and could see over the counter that Genesis was splashing his face with water. The faucet squeaked back off, and he turned measuredly and strode into the living room. 

He avoided their glances again, and proceeded to throw himself back onto the couch with a grunt. He stared at the carpet, one hand shading his expression from them and resting on the side of his face as he examined the floor silently. After a moment like that, he leaned back into the couch and lowered his hand. His face was clenched in anger and the rage in his eyes cut through the silence in the room better than any words could. He grabbed his pack of cigarettes off the table, but it was empty and he tossed it to the floor next to him and held his head in both hands, defeated. 

Cloud leaned forward and offered him the pack from his jacket pocket, which Genesis took without a second thought, nodding his head gratefully at him. He sparked a square and sat back on the sofa, finally exhausted. Sephiroth sat back beside him and offered him the glass of water in his hand, which Genesis also accepted and took a few sips before setting it down on the table softly. He seemed to have expelled all of his excess energy and was content now just to sit in whatever emotions he was experiencing. 

Sephiroth recognized that the episode was over, and looked at the redhead seriously. “What happened to him? How did you hear this?” He watched Genesis inquiringly.

“It was on the news, I had no idea. Isabel didn’t call me, I literally just saw the headline and his picture. It took me completely by surprise.” He took another drag off the cigarette and ashed it in the chipped tray on the table. 

Sephiroth nodded. That explained why he had been so shocked. That would be a very surreal way to hear the news of a close friend's death, he understood better now. “Do you know any of the details yet?”

Genesis shook his head. “No, I need to call Isa.” He grabbed his phone quickly out of his pocket, having already moved onto the next step. He dialed the number quickly, then stood up off the couch and walked into the kitchen, obviously wanting to be more alone while on the call. 

Sephiroth sat back thoughtfully, pondering the situation. This was all very strange, but he assumed that the details of the incident would help bring some clarity to the situation. He noticed that Cloud was staring at the wall behind him, completely spaced out and holding his empty glass, the hand with it resting on his knee absently.

“Cloud?” He waited for a moment, then called to him again. “Cloud hey, you there?” He waved his hand to get his attention.

Cloud sprang back into the moment with a start. Obviously realizing again where he was. He looked down at the glass in his hand, then placed it on the table carefully. He looked very worried and also, strangely guilty. He fiddled with the collar of his shirt with one of his hands, then ran both palms against his pant legs slowly. “Yeah, sorry, what’s up?” 

Sephiroth observed his mannerisms carefully. “What have you been thinking about over there? Also, why did you greet me at the door holding Genesis’ gun? That whole thing was very strange, I don’t see how this situation with Angeal relates to that” He watched the other younger man carefully, waiting for him to answer.

Cloud shook his head, then watched Crowley, as the cat meandered around his ankles meowing at him. The entire thing with Genesis seemed to upset the creature greatly as he had not seen fit to calm down enough yet and claim one of their laps. Cloud looked over his shoulder towards where Genesis was in the kitchen, then leaned forward towards Sephiroth. “This was no coincidence. He’s killing people that I saw after I got out of prison. This is him.” He hissed the last part through his teeth. Staring at Sephiroth now, his eyes wide with both shock and fear.

Sephiroth blinked at him. _Hm. That seems like a stretch. I don’t see how that’s possible._ He continued to meet the other man’s gaze, but Cloud just sat back and looked away. 

Cloud huffed out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, that’s right, you just think I’m crazy. I’m not an idiot. I _know_ Reno. The man is connected. While I was in prison that man was able to get to me whenever he wanted to. He has almost every guard in that prison on his payroll. This is no accident.” He looked back at Sephiroth now, eyes intense with emotion, most predominantly fear, but also hate, disgust, and even revulsion. He leaned in again towards him, glancing back over his shoulder again as he did so to make sure Genesis was still on the phone, and his voice was almost a whisper this time. “Please, you need to listen to me. I don’t think we are safe here anymore. If he knows about Angeal, then he definitely knows about Genesis. Genesis texted Reno while I was in the hospital, he said he told him to ‘burn in hell,’ and to stay away from me.” Cloud put his hand on the coffee table in earnest. “This is exactly what he does. He destroys everything and anyone close to you.”

Sephiroth had held Cloud’s gaze the entire time he was speaking to him, and he could tell that Cloud didn’t seem delusional or even like he was in shock. He was incredibly serious. And he also knew he was being genuine by the fact that he had actually used Reno’s name out loud without seeming abjectly phased. Sephiroth knew that didn’t mean Cloud was right, but given the situation, he wasn’t sure he could allow them to just sit here and do nothing in the wake of this information. But he also didn’t know how he was supposed to break this news to Genesis either. He was beginning to understand why Cloud had been silent this entire time. He was terrified of telling the other man his suspicions because that would mean it was in some way his fault that Angeal had died. And now especially, given how Genesis had reacted when he had been brought out of his episode, Cloud was probably incredibly fearful of what he might do to him if he knew any of this. 

This was a very messy situation, and Sephiroth was somehow stuck right in the middle of it. He sat back into the couch, mulling over his options. They definitely needed to leave Genesis’ house soon, but if he told him right off the bat why, the situation might deteriorate. He would have to be clever here.

Genesis could be heard finishing his call in the other room, and he walked in after a few moments, putting his phone back into the pocket of his jeans slowly. His expression was odd, he seemed to be pondering what he had just heard, but not with sadness, it was confusion. He walked up to them and shook his head back and forth as he spoke. “I don’t understand. Isabel says that the CO in charge called her this afternoon after the incident, but wouldn't give her any details. She says that he never said anything about a riot, like what it was saying on the news. She’s very confused and worked up, but I wasn’t able to help at all because all I know is what I saw on TV. I told her I would try to find out more, but I have no clue where to start.” 

Sephiroth and Cloud looked at each other, then at Genesis, who seemed to notice the way that they exchanged looks. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Am I missing something…?” He looked between them questioningly. “What have you guys been talking about…?” 

Sephiroth decided to step up, since Cloud would only complicate things right now. “There’s a lot going on right now, but to simplify the situation, I think it would be best if you both came to my house for tonight. I promise that I’ll explain on the way, but we need to leave here, now. I’m sorry Gen, I know I’m asking for a lot, just to up and leave right now, but I’m asking you to trust me.” 

Genesis' eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything. He looked at their expressions and read urgency in both of them. He crossed his arms, and stepped back a bit, obviously thinking hard. He stayed that way for a few moments. Looking at the floor, then after a couple seconds he raised his eyes and looked at Cloud. His features were hard and cold, but there was no anger, just focus. Cloud looked up at him, and a deep sadness could be read on his face. Sadness, and guilt. Genesis stared him down, he had a very powerful presence, and he was exerting that power now, making Cloud aware that he was no fool, and could surmise what this was about. He stared at the younger man for a few more moments, and it took no time at all for Cloud to lower his head towards the ground, resting it on his clasped hands that were propped up on his knees by the elbows. Cloud appeared utterly defeated and just sat there motionless, visibly melting in front of them. 

Genesis seemed satisfied for the moment with their silent exchange, and tapped his chin thoughtfully now, looking back at Sephiroth. “I’ll get my bag.” He walked towards the hallway, but first he placed a hand on Sephiroth’s shoulder, resting it their for a moment, and Sephiroth covered it with his own for a second Feeling the calming heat of the redhead’s palm on his shoulder, just for that moment, comforted him more than any words could. Genesis knew Sephiroth wasn’t a machine, and this entire situation was disturbing to him as well. He was doing what he could also to show how grateful he was that Sephiroth had come to his aid, even though he had had no real obligation to do so. In that gesture Sephiroth felt a quiet spark rekindle in the depths of him, the likes of which he had not felt for years, something that could be the beginning of something beautiful and new. _It is always in times of fear that the best parts of people emerge._ He thought to himself.

As Genesis walked out of the room to get some of his things, Sephiroth stood and started putting on his coat. Cloud had remained silent, still sitting in the chair, obviously wrapped up in all of his emotions tied to both his newfound friendship with Genesis, and his darker one’s associated with Reno. Sephiroth softened, and walked over to him as buttoned the last clasp on his coat. He put a comforting hand on Cloud’s head. “It’s going to be ok, Cloud. And trust me, he doesn’t hate you. But Genesis is not a simple man, he’s just going to have to process this grief in his own way. None of this is your fault.”

Cloud nodded under the weight of his hand, then stood and grabbed his pack of cigarettes off the table from where Genesis had left it earlier. He turned to Sephiroth and smirked coyly, he seemed to have found the energy to push aside the darkness in his thoughts for the time being. “Can’t forget the essentials, right?” He said as he pocketed the smokes. 

Sephiroth just shook his head at him, but gave him a small half smile in return. Cloud was incredibly resilient, he had to admit. But he could only imagine what was running through the young man’s mind right now. If Reno was this capable of hurting people that _he didn’t even know_ , then what _had_ he done, and what _would_ he want to do to Cloud? Sephiroth could only guess, but the guessing made him feel ill, and he felt a protective surge of emotions rush through his stomach sourly. He had a deep foreboding run through him in that moment at the younger man’s aloof reaction, that this kind of damage would never _truly_ heal. He knew that in his bones and it sunk down heavy inside him. A weight that only those who understand the workings of mind and its many mysteries could possibly comprehend. 

Genesis walked back in carrying a small duffle, which he had flung over his shoulder. He had on a very serious expression, and he walked up to Cloud, outstretching a hand to him, beckoning with his fingers. “I’ll be needing that back, Cloud.” 

Cloud looked at him, realizing what it was he wanted, and he grabbed the gun from where it was tucked underneath his jacket and placed it in Genesis’ hand. He looked down as he did so, not wanting to meet Genesis’ eyes. 

Genesis tucked the gun behind him, then motioned at them to follow. Sephiroth followed behind Cloud, who followed Genesis out the back door. Sephiroth pulled the sliding door shut on a very disgruntled Crowley, who tried his best to force his paw in the doorway before it slid shut in front of him. Genesis had made sure to lock it first, hoping that would make some kind of difference. He then turned and stepped briskly down the steps and towards his car. Genesis had turned to face Sephiroth as he reached the driver side of his own car. 

“I assume it's probably best if we take your car?” His face was devoid of emotion, appearing calm, but Sephiroth knew better. 

Sephiroth shrugged slightly, “That would be my guess.” He wasn’t sure still if this whole thing was an overreaction, but he decided if they were doing this, they might as well do it right. Both he and Genesis had been trained in evasion, and both knew the answer before it was even discussed out loud. But somehow about saying it out loud had made the situation more real. 

Cloud had ignored the entire exchange and was watching the road suspiciously. He looked like he was posed for action. Sephiroth was considerably impressed by his reaction to the situation. He was not a pushover in any way, and appeared ready enough to defend himself if it became necessary. Sephiroth figured that his time in prison had probably hardened him. That and his constant exposure to Reno in a captive environment. He was sure that if Reno were to appear now before them, that Cloud would have no problem putting a bullet in him. This was actually a very good sign for his eventual recovery, if he was ready to confront Reno physically, then it meant he would be ready to rid himself of his memory. It didn’t mean it would be easy, but it was a better sign then if he was paralyzed by fear. His mental toughness was attractive. He had to admit. _Oh gods, none of that now, please._ He had just rid himself of the guilt associated with Genesis, he didn’t need anymore of that in his life, that was for sure. 

He shook himself back into the moment, and they all walked to his car and piled in, Genesis taking the passenger seat, and Cloud behind him, obviously not wanting to sit at an angle that would put him at a diagonal from the redhead. Sephiroth started the car and backed them out of the driveway quickly. He headed down the road at a reasonably fast speed towards his house. This would be an interesting night for sure. He wasn’t sure yet what was in store, but he knew things were bound to get a little heated later, and he mentally prepared himself as best he could, while still trying his best to hold his own emotions about the situation in check. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are heating up, will the details behind Angeal's death be unraveled? Keep coming back! :)  
> Please let me know what you think in the comments! Thank you!!


	6. Guilt and Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis blames Cloud for Angeal's death. Though reconciliation may be possible, Cloud may not be around long enough to find out.

Cloud

The sun had almost set, and he watched the last bit of the furiously orange circle dip below the horizon, leaving small trails of pink and red across the darkly clouded sky. It hurt his eyes to watch, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the glowing orb. He could see the small amount of dust on the outside of the car window now in the evening haze. They drove down a main road lined with street lights that were activating in the now dark light. The headlights of cars from the opposite direction caused him to finally divert his gaze suspiciously at them, his paranoia was growing with the darkening of the world outside the vehicle and he had to keep his mind from drifting to more unpleasant thoughts. He couldn’t focus on the future, for now they were safe, and that’s all that mattered. But the thoughts never listened, and he felt himself overtaken by intrusive images of things he’d rather forget. He couldn’t see him again, he’d rather die. And in that moment he resolved that he would end himself this time, he would have to, he couldn’t take it one more time. 

Sephiroth parked them on the side of a suburban road. There were mid-sized houses up and down either side, most of them separated by a couple groupings of trees that seemed to provide a decent amount of privacy between the yards. Everyone in this neighborhood seemed to be doing pretty well for themselves, but he had expected Sephiroth to live in a nice area, considering his profession. They all climbed out of the car simultaneously, and the car doors closed together in a chorus. It was silent, dark, and relatively cold out, the fall weather was nice. Cloud watched for them to start forwards towards whichever home was Sephiroth’s. His bet was the brown and black brick one on the left, and he was surprised that they headed instead to the white one, fall perennials blooming across the front lawn. It was quite colorful actually, and he realized he should open his mind a bit in his evaluation of Sephiroth’s character. The man seemed to have an odd sort of eccentric taste, very similar to Genesis.

Things were eerily silent as they crossed the road, and Cloud had to push down the sharp anxiety clawing at his throat, now was definitely not the time. A whole new strange environment to adjust to, he had a hard enough time relaxing at Genesis’ place, and the structure and design of Sephiroth’s home he found quite imposing as they approached the walkway up to the door. He followed them quickly up the steep steps and then up the short stone pathway through the yard. Neither of them turned back to check he was following, which he was relieved by. He didn’t have the nerve right now to face either of them head on, this was his fault, and he would never forgive himself for Angeal’s death. 

He had grown incredibly close to Angeal while he was a prisoner, and they had bonded over interests, hobbies, and similar personality traits. They both liked to have a good time, they both read the same books, they had bonded too on sharing in the strange events at the prison everyday, making jokes about the other CO’s or inmates, and Angeal had been fascinated by how articulate and out of place Cloud had been there. Angeal had protected him on more than one occasion, keeping other delinquents away from him if they got rough, or even getting other officers to back down on his watch. His time there would have seemed like an eternity had he not been there, but he had never gotten up the nerve to tell Angeal what was taking place when he wasn’t on duty, what happened behind the closed doors. That he would never know, and Cloud was glad of it. At least he didn’t have to think of Angeal taking that dirty secret to his grave. 

They reached the door and Sephiroth held the door open for them after he unlocked it. As Cloud walked by he averted his eyes from Sephiroth. He found the man to be very intelligent, and even compassionate, but he still didn’t trust him, and he was very imposing if he wanted to be. The same could be said for Genesis. They were not the kind of men you trifle with, they were intelligent, observant, and as he had seen back at the house, very capable of handling themselves. He knew from their conversations that Genesis was for sure military, and Sephiroth either had been too, or was just that sharp from wit alone. Angeal had talked about his and the Genesis’ years in the service, and he assumed they had probably worked together in that regard. The last thing Cloud wanted to do was piss either of them off, but he was pretty sure he’s already succeeded on that count. He wasn’t necessarily scared of them, since every one of their actions previously had indicated they were generally kind and generous people, but he treaded carefully. _Not making that mistake twice._ Reno had seemed just as nice at first, in the early days of their relationship. 

Cloud walked into the house, and found himself in a large foyer, coat racks on either side, and a sign was posted on the door in front of him, it had an arrow that pointed left and had Sephiroth’s name and title on it. He was surprised, he didn’t take Sephiroth for the kind of man who would openly allow patients into his home, but he must have a practice here. Sephiroth stepped past him, pulling the outer door shut, then opened the right hand door, the one without the sign, leading them into a short hallway. It opened into a large living space with an open floor plan. There was a large living area in the middle, a big kitchen, and then on the opposite side what appeared to be an area configured into a workspace, though more open than what Cloud would consider an office. The carpet was blue and the kitchen area had black and white speckled tile, with turquoise colored counter tops. Most of the furniture was black or white, with plants everywhere throughout the entire place, which again took him slightly by surprise. Having met the doctor in the hospital, he had a hard time wrapping his mind around the peculiar image of the tall imposing man watering live plants in his home. 

Genesis set his bag down on the long black couch that served as the only barrier to the kitchen space. Then walked over to the long stretch of four glass sliding doors that ran along the back wall, he stared out into the blackness for a moment, then began pulling the white curtains closed. Sephiroth walked over into the kitchen, setting his leather shoulder satchel and his coat on the island countertop and looked into the fridge, grabbing a few drinks out of the stainless steel appliance. He then walked back over into the living area and handed one to Genesis and one to Cloud, who thanked him quietly, still surprised by the openness and decorative nature of the large home. It was rather deceptive from the outside. 

Cloud stood awkwardly by the edge of the living space, close to the entry hall still, holding the drink unopened in his hands. It was ice cold and he found it was comforting in a strange way and helped ground him in reality, which he could definitely use as he was having a very hard time staying focused on the present. The implications of what had happened still really hadn’t caught up with him yet, and he hoped they never would, though he knew that was unrealistic. 

Genesis finished drawing the curtains closed and sat down on the couch heavily, opening his drink and taking a sip. He muttered under his breath about getting something stronger, but it was barely audible, and it seemed that Sephiroth decided to ignore it as he sat across from Genesis on the other couch. 

They both looked at each other, then in unison turned to look at Cloud, who now realized how obviously odd he looked to them and grabbed the closest seat to the hallway, a large white armchair. He looked down at his feet, waiting nervously for the moment to pass, hoping they would engage each other in conversation and distract themselves from his presence. No such luck. He glanced up and they were still watching him intently, he looked towards the windows and opened the drink, but did not take a sip, just sat it on the table next to him, aside a large potted fern. 

Genesis opened his mouth to speak, and he looked almost on the edge of spitting something venomous out, but Sephiroth hissed at him and waved his hand. The silver haired man then spoke instead, “Cloud, since we are now in a bit less...danger, as you thought, could you please explain your theory to Genesis? I think it would be good to get some of this out in the open. Don’t you think?” 

Sephiroth looked at him, and Cloud was surprised to find no malice in his eyes, just a curious expression that awaited his reply. The man could come off very benign when he wanted to, and Cloud guessed that years working in a dialogue driven profession, and observing people's body language and minding his own as well, made him an incredibly good mediator. He looked around the room, noticing for the first time a staircase in the far corner by the study area that led upstairs. The next level was open to the first story, guarded by a black iron banister. He could only imagine what the second floor looked like. 

Cloud looked at Sephiroth, and he knew his eyes were wide, he couldn’t help it, it was all too much to take in right now. But he knew that Angeal’s memory dictated he try and find a way to explain this to them. “I believe that...Reno...discovered my friendship with Angeal, and had the same guards he bribed there in the past...kill him.” He forced himself to meet Sephiroth’s gaze, he needed to show his intentions here were anything but untruthful, to the best of his knowledge. 

Genesis stood up with a growl, stepping towards him intimidatingly, throwing one of his arms up in the air gesturing. “He was _not_ your friend.” 

Cloud leaned as far back in the chair that he possibly could, turning his head to the side as if to avoid a blow. When one didn’t come, he turned to look back, and Genesis was still standing several paces from him, hand now at his side. He scoffed at Cloud’s reaction and simply turned and paced over by the windows, back and forth. It seemed he had never had any intention of getting physical, and Cloud felt stupid for even turning his head. But it didn’t matter, this situation was still awful. The man who had saved his life, given him a place to stay, and waited by his bedside all day, now hated him. He couldn’t stand it. He remembered their closeness just a half a day ago, the feeling of Genesis’ cheek against his own, and the feeling of his breath on his neck. Cloud slumped in his seat and checked out of the conversation. There was nothing he could say that would make this any better. So he would say nothing.

Sephiroth sighed, then turned from watching Genesis to Cloud. The silver haired man had seen his reaction to Genesis’ anger, Cloud knew it. The guy was observant beyond belief, but he chose not to comment. Which was the only thing Cloud was grateful for right now. Sephiroth folded his hand in his lap, as if contemplating a difficult equation. 

The psychiatrist spoke to Genesis, “To _you_ right now, it may feel as though Angeal was the only one in the world who really knew _you_ Gen, but I think perhaps you should consider that _Angeal_ himself, might have known other people besides you closely as well. Or you should at least remain open to the possibility.” 

Genesis turned wildly on his heel and stared at Sephiroth, “ _Do not_ psychoanalyze me Seph, cut it out now! Stop trying to make this situation better than it is. There’s no way you can fix this.” 

Cloud was just happy to have their attention diverted, if even for a moment. He didn’t realize he would be put on high alert so fast, Genesis walking towards him in a rage like that had really set him off, and he was still playing catch up.

Sephiroth just nodded vaguely, sitting back into the sofa he was on contemplatively. But he had not decided to stop talking yet, “I cannot bring back the dead, no. And no, no one else could ever know Angeal the way that you did, Gen. That is unique and always will be, with all that you shared. But I see no reason why we should blame Cloud for something that was entirely out of his control. He had no part in it. And it hasn’t seemed as if he’s had any ill intention against you or Angeal personally. In fact, I would think this is probably a terrifying experience for him. Considering Cloud also lost someone that mattered to him, a close friend or not, it doesn’t matter. And now his antagonist of many years may or may not at this very moment be searching for us, with every intent of brutalizing him once again.” He spoke the last part without emotion, bluntly summarizing the situation. 

Cloud’s last hold on reality slipped, to hear his fears spoken aloud. He catapulted outside himself, out of the armchair, out of his head, and floated about in the room aimlessly. No, he could not handle this... 

Genesis

Genesis put his hand to his face at Sephiroth’s words, and he just stood there silently. Memories of he and Angeal as kids wallowed up from the recesses of his mind, memories of Angeal running by his side on training missions, and then more recent memories of them sitting at the bar together, laughing, content. He couldn’t handle this right now, there was too much going on, he needed to put this shit aside, pack it up and reopen it later, with a bottle of bourbon, alone, and say his goodbyes...but now was not the time. 

Sephiroth was right, he was _always_ right. As he mentally shoved the memories of Angeal in an figurative box, others swarmed up and encircled his thoughts, ones of him and Cloud, their bodies pressed against each other in the kitchen, him holding Cloud close on the couch, his head in Genesis’s lap...but most importantly, his promise to protect Cloud resurfaced like a punch to his gut. He had _promised_ Cloud he would protect him. _Fuck! Why am I acting like this?_ The kid doesn’t deserve to be blamed for this. He had even said to Cloud the other night before the incident, that he thought Angeal had brought them together for a reason, so they could _help_ each other. _Shit, what am I doing? Definitely not helping. Angeal wouldn’t want this._

He lowered his hand and took a shuddering breath. He looked up and over at Sephiroth, who was concernedly watching Cloud. The blonde had shrunk up into the armchair, one leg pulled up in front of him. He looked completely out of it. Genesis remembered how he had jolted towards him earlier, hands gesturing wildly, and realized how terrifying he must have looked to the younger man. He knew he was imposing, he had been told so by many people. And he slapped himself mentally. _What the fuck did I do?_

He had been impressed earlier, even through his daze of anger and dissociation, to see how Cloud had handled the situation and called Sephiroth when he had drifted off. Also by Cloud’s logical decision to arm himself after the news of Angeal’s death. Cloud had prepared himself to protect _him_ . Even though he could’ve just run. This was the man who wrote his favorite book, the man who was the beautifully broken artist of words, that even Angeal had taken a shine to. He had to make this right. _Dammit Seph, how do you always know what to say?_

Genesis walked back over to the other two, trying to decide how best to approach the situation now that he was no longer on the offensive. He slowly walked over to Cloud, who was just staring at the floor. He sat down on the couch closest to him and leaned over, trying his best to appear non-threatening. But he made no move to touch him, he knew that would only make things worse right now. Cloud did nothing in response, looking at him warily from his peripheral vision. Not wanting to make direct eye contact, for fear of something Genesis did not even want to fathom right now. The idea of someone hurting Cloud like that in the past still made him nauseous. 

“I owe you an apology...Seph is right. I know this isn’t your fault. You could’ve left me there today, but you didn’t. And at great risk to yourself if this really was...his doing.” He chose not to use Reno’s name so as not to upset Cloud any further. “And...earlier today I told you I would protect you. I swore to in fact...and I still will. I’m sorry, Cloud...” 

Cloud seemed to be listening, though he still did not seem to want to look at him, but he nodded his head a few times. Genesis looked over his shoulder as Sephiroth, searching for direction, he didn’t know what to do. Sephiroth was leaning forward on the couch, watching the exchange, he seemed to be pleased with the apology Genesis had offered. But he still eyed Cloud concerned. Sephiroth got up off the sofa and walked slowly over, seeming to want to make as quiet of movements as possible. He placed a hand on Genesis' shoulder as he walked past the redhead. Genesis soul ached in keeping so much distance between them now, all he wanted to do right now was hold Cloud and comfort him like before, but he would follow Seph’s lead on this one. He wondered if Cloud would even be ok with that level of closeness again. _Fuck, if I ruined whatever it was we had, then I’m not going to be able to live with myself._ He could be entirely tactless sometimes. 

Sephiroth crouched down on one knee by the armchair, placing one hand on the armrest lightly. His glasses had moved down on his nose as he had kneeled down, and now he looked over the top of them at the blonde, and he smiled ever so slightly. He had the perfect smile, not too big, not too small. To Genesis, in times of uncertainty, it had been the biggest comfort in the world. 

“Cloud, how are you feeling?” Sephiroth waited for a response patiently. “I can assure you that neither of us has any intent to harm you, you are safe here. And neither Genesis or I would let _anything_ happen to you.” 

So as not to be hovering awkwardly behind them, Genesis had scooted slightly over on the closest couch, so there was now more space between him and the younger man. He looked down at his lap, not sure where to avert his gaze to. He waited anxiously for Cloud’s response. He wanted to make things better, and now desperately wanted to convey how sorry he felt for blaming him for Angeal’s death. He thought back to them all together at the hospital. Angeal had gone out of his way to see them, even though he had just gotten off the night shift. Though at the bar he had said he was going home, maybe they had called him back in after all. Wait, this didn’t make sense. There was a definite hole in this story. There was no way he would have had to work again today. Where had he gone after the hospital? Had he even made it _home_?

Genesis was shoved out of his head by Cloud’s response to Sephiroth’s question. He looked over at them, Cloud had put his foot back down on the floor, he seemed to have been made to feel slightly more safe with them. Probably just Seph’s magic, he has a way with people. They trust him almost instantly. He refocused on Cloud’s words.

The blonde hesitated, staring across the room instead of meeting Seph’s encouraging gaze. “I feel horrible, this is all my fault. I should’ve just gone to the Six, I don’t know how I even got here, things just moved so fast...I still don’t even understand how I’m alive. None of this feels _real_ …” His voice cracked as he hung onto the last word in his throat, and Cloud put his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. He looked like he was barely holding together. He had done so well so far, but Genesis was unsure if he was about to lose it. He thanked the gods that Seph was with them right now. He didn’t think he had it in him right now to be of any help. 

Sephiroth nodded. “It makes sense to feel that way, just this morning you were in the hospital, you’ve had no time to process the fact that you almost died. But I can assure you this is real, Cloud. And you are not alone, we are all in this together, for better or for worse.” 

Cloud choked on his breath and pulled at his hair, rocking very slightly forward as he held his head. It sounded like he wanted to cry, but Genesis knew he would not let himself in front of both of them. He assumed that had only happened at the hospital because of how drugged he was. Cloud was using his hands to cover his face from them as well. Sephiroth remained where he was beside Cloud, observing him carefully, he made no move to touch him. Cloud continued rocking, slightly faster, then he leaned towards Sephiroth and whispered to him, barely audible. Genesis wasn’t sure if it was to keep him from hearing his next words, or if he was afraid that speaking them loudly would make his fears a reality.

“I _can’t_ do it again, I swore to myself I’d kill myself before I’d let him have me again. This can’t really be happening, _not again_.” He said the words so quietly, his head close to Sephiroth’s ear. The words were staggered by panicked breaths, and frenzied in a way he had never heard Cloud speak before. 

He really was at his breaking point. Genesis wasn’t surprised, he knew it would happen eventually. Or _should_ happen eventually, the way he had been going, Genesis had feared Cloud would never be able to face reality. This might be a good thing, for him to actually admit what he was feeling right now, but Genesis was also concerned that him being in this state of mind right now might cost them, if things developed further with the Reno situation. Cloud had proven before that he had the grit to take his own life before, and he was extremely worried that given his theory that Reno was coming for them, he might try and do the same again. And the thought of that sent Genesis into a slight panic, he couldn’t lose both Angeal and Cloud. That would completely defeat any purpose in Angeal’s passing, the very person he had tried to protect for two years dying with him.

Sephiroth now gently placed his hands over Cloud’s, that were still holding the blonde’s head as he continued to rock. Apparently the psychiatrist had decide to say fuck it to the boundaries of any kind of professional relationship with Cloud. Which did surprise Genesis slightly, and kindled a sort of odd jealous feeling within him. He was protective of Cloud, and protective of Seph as well. He didn’t know how to label the emotions moving through him right now. 

“Cloud, deep breaths. You need to calm yourself. I promise you, we will not allow....that, to happen again.” Sephiroth inhaled and exhaled deep and rhythmically now, wanting Cloud to mimic him. Which the younger man did, his rocking slowed and then stopped, and he looked up at Sephiroth’s face, meeting his kind eyes. Seph kept his hands over Cloud’s, smiling at him gently. Cloud surprised both of them by leaning into Sephiroth’s arms, wanting some kind of touch to calm him. Seph obliged, and wrapped his arms around Cloud protectively, holding him softly. 

They stayed like that for a while, then Cloud pulled back and leaned into the armchair limply, he was obviously both emotionally and physically exhausted. The man had basically almost died the other night. Sephiroth slowly stood back up, not wanting to crowd the younger man, and he must know as well that being too close now after Cloud’s display of emotion might now have the potential to embarrass him. Seph placed a hand on Cloud’s shoulder gently, then walked around the chair and into the kitchen. He pulled out his laptop from the bag on the counter, and opened it. He busied himself with pulling something up on the computer, typing commands efficiently on the keypad. 

Genesis watched Cloud, he was sitting back in the chair and looking at his hands, which still shook very slightly. Cloud looked over at Genesis for the first time since they had gotten to the house. And his face shone with raw emotion. “I’m sorry, Gen.” He said softly. “I can’t believe he’s gone.” 

Genesis looked down and nodded, trying to process all the emotions he was feeling. He then looked back at Cloud, hesitated, then motioned with his head for Cloud to come over and sit with him. The younger man took a minute to realize what he was asking him, then without any hesitation got up and walked over, sitting on the sofa next to him, close enough that their shoulders touched. Genesis wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him slowly into him, Cloud leaned his head onto Genesis shoulder, resting it there, and the weight was heavy. Genesis was extremely comforted by his touch and was happy that Cloud again felt comfortable enough to put his full weight against him. They leaned against each other like they had before in the day. 

Sephiroth walked around the furniture back over to the opposite couch, he was carrying his laptop in on hand and typing with the other. He stopped for a second, seeing them together on the couch, and stared at them for a moment with a blank expression, then the corner of his mouth turned upward ever so slightly, giving away that he was pleased. The silver haired man then sat down on the couch and continued to fiddle with his laptop, glancing over at them occasionally with a small smile. Sephiroth had removed his tie when he had been standing in the kitchen and unclasped the first two buttons on his shirt, getting a bit more comfortable after a long day. 

Sephiroth then placed the laptop down on the coffee table and turned the screen towards them. There were about six boxes all pulled up simultaneously on the screen. They all seemed to be of different angles outside his home. He must have gotten security cameras installed recently. “Here, I had these installed a while ago. We’re safe here, like I said.” He left the laptop like it was on the table, then stood. “I’m gonna go change, do either of you need anything?” 

Genesis shook his head, and he felt Cloud also shake his against his chest, where it had migrated slowly from his shoulder. “We’re good, thanks Seph.” The redhead responded. 

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at the “we” and let out a very slight chuckle, which was a deep and warming sound. Genesis hadn’t heard that sound in a long time. He nodded, then walked over to the staircase and climbed agilely up the stairs, taking two at a time. The normalcy of the sight calmed Genesis and he relaxed more into the couch.

Genesis realized his jacket was still on and he was still armed. The latter he was ok with, but he felt stiff and uncomfortable in the leather of his coat. He gently straightened, and Cloud moved off his chest to lean back into the sofa instead. “Gimme a sec.” He said quietly to the younger man. He pulled his arms out of his coat and laid it on the armrest, then he knelt down and untied his heavy boots and pulled them off with a small huff, setting them under the table in front of them. He noticed that Cloud made no move to do the same, just stared at the wall across from where they were seated. He got up and moved to a kneeling position in front of the blonde and started untying the laces of his shoes. They were faded ankle high boots, rather fashionable in their earlier days most likely, and much more lightweight than Genesis’. 

Cloud leaned down to protest, gabbing Genesis' wrists, “You don’t have to do that, I got it.” His voice was so quiet, almost a whisper.

Genesis looked up, and their faces were inches away from each other. He could feel Cloud’s breath on him, and he found that it strangely excited him. Their eyes met and Cloud seemed to realize now how close they were. He stopped dead and they stared at each other, frozen. Cloud's eyes held so much emotion, sadness, anger, fear, desperation, but also gratitude. And the subtle gratitude for the simple act of kindness Genesis was displaying in trying to help with his shoes, seemed to have overwhelmed him for a moment. Cloud’s gaze grew soft, and Genesis held his breath for a moment, taking in the delicate features of the other man’s face. The striking blue of his irises, the curve of his nose, and the locks of bright blonde hair that laid over one side of his face, hiding half of one of his eyes. 

Cloud continued to hold his position close to Genesis' face, then moved so that their noses were almost touching. “Thank you.” He whispered, seeming to give up on the idea of helping and just let Genesis finish.

But Genesis was much too distracted to do that now, and he decided in a split second to cross the distance between them. Their noses touched, and he felt the warm skin of Cloud’s cheek brush his, and he let his lips brush up against the skin hesitantly. 

Cloud didn’t react at first, but he didn’t pull away either. He slowly reached a hand up to the side of Genesis’ face and cupped his other cheek so very gently. The contact was like ice to Genesis, the cold smooth fingers sending radiating sparks of pleasure and comfort through his body. He rested his forehead against Cloud’s in response, savoring the touch of his hand. 

Cloud held that pose for what seemed like an eternity, Genesis simply enjoyed the sensation, with no intent to go any further. But then Cloud suddenly pushed forward, breaking their foreheads apart and met Genesis lips with his own. Genesis felt himself magnetically pulled into the kiss, the soft musty scent of Cloud’s body was inhaled and the sweet taste of cigarettes and bourbon warmly coated his mouth and tongue. He moved now in response, hesitantly reaching just one of his hands up and delicately holding the side of Cloud’s face. He was still half kneeling in front of the blonde, and Cloud met him in the middle. They very gently rotated their mouths around the kiss, absorbing every sensation that they could from the exchange. Feeling the heat and the coolness of each other’s bodies.

Too soon, Cloud broke off the contact, and sat back slowly. Genesis let out a long exhale and then finished untying the boots, pulling them off as gently as he could. He then stood back up, straightening his sweater as he did so, surprised at how ruffled it had become. He held a hand against his midsection, trying to collect himself. This was all a bit much to take in right now, but he was definitely not displeased with what had just transpired. He looked down at Cloud, whose face was angled up at him, a small, but beautiful smile on his face, and his expression was almost blissful, a bit dazed even with pleasure. He guessed that going from such an agitated state to one of pleasure had slightly fried Cloud's comprehension a bit. Genesis found the concept of making the blonde so flustered, brought a sort of mischievous pleasant feeling in his core. 

He turned to sit back next to Cloud, holding one arm up from his side so that when he sat back down the other man could nestle against him again. He realized midair on the way down to his seat that they were no longer alone...Sephiroth was seated across from them. He had one leg crossed over the other, arms over his chest, spectacles down his nose a bit, and was looking over the top of them, with eyes that pierced Genesis’ soul. 

Genesis thumped back down onto the furniture with a breath whooshing out of him, trying to take in the fact that their interaction had been witnessed by the other man. He stared back at him, utterly unsure of how to react, and eyes probably wide as a lizard’s. Cloud seemed completely oblivious, or just didn’t care, and immediately had curled up into his side, raising his now shoe-less feet up onto the couch next to him and leaning his head into Genesis’ chest. 

The redhead and the tall silver haired one stared each other down for a few minutes, watching the other’s for any change in expression. But completely to Genesis’ surprise, Sephiroth’s glare slowly evolved into a smirk, and then very slowly after that into a genuine smile. Sephiroth seemed to be actually having a bit of a sly laugh at them, holding one hand up to his mouth and the other repositioning his glasses. “Well...I see you two have gotten close.” He couldn’t contain himself any longer, and managed to cover his snort a bit with his hand. Sephiroth was...amused? _What the fuck? Am I losing my mind?_ He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Sephiroth laugh, much less entertained. _How long has he been there!?_

He had expected Sephiroth to disapprove of their actions. At least their choice of timing, or out of jealousy, he had almost hoped for the latter. But no, he seemed completely fine with what had just happened. The older man sat comfortably draped on the sofa, seemingly at ease, he was now wearing a pair of light wash jeans that hugged his hips pleasingly and a black long sleeved shirt, which clung to his incredibly fit form. Seph had always taken care of himself, but Genesis could see now that he still very much cared about the upkeep of his body. Genesis felt a wave of regret wash through him, had he just sealed the fate of any possible rekindling of their relationship? _Probably. Fuck me._ It wasn’t that he regretted what he had done with Cloud...but he loved Sephiroth deeply still. He was at a loss for what to say now, with the awkwardness of the current situation. 

The thought occurred to Genesis that maybe the Sephiroth man felt the same way, but was just covering it with humor. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask. This truly wasn’t the time, it hadn’t been the time for all this with Cloud either. But that was done, and he would have to deal with whatever consequences came from his actions. “...yeah…” He responded finally to Sephiroth’s observation. 

Cloud looked up from Genesis’ chest and glanced between them. He finally seemed to have realized what Genesis was thinking about. He looked like a deer in headlights. “...I think I’m gonna go out for a smoke…” He sat up from his somewhat supine position and quickly stood up off the couch. He was still wearing his jacket, and he removed the cigarettes from the inside pocket as he strode quickly towards the sliding doors on the back of the house. Cloud pulled back the curtain and padded out in his sock clad feet, sliding the door closed behind him.

Genesis turned back to Sephiroth, pulling his gaze away from the door with effort, he did not want to see what Sephiroth’s expression was. The taller man was staring at him again, no smile on his face this time. He didn’t seem angry, but he definitely wasn’t happy either. 

“Sorry about that…” Genesis said quietly.

Sephiroth just rubbed his temples, displacing his glasses tiredly. He seemed more exhausted than anything else. “Don’t apologize. If that’s what you want, I won’t get in the way. I have no right to dictate who you choose as a romantic partner. After everything that’s happened between us, I truly have no say in this.” He had on a pained look, an almost longing expression filled his eyes, and he removed his glasses entirely now. Genesis was shot through with the piercing color of his eyes, and the beautiful shape of his face. 

“Seph...that’s not what I want...it just happened. Since you came over today the only thing I’ve wanted was to tell you how happy I am that you’re back in my life. I’ve been dead inside since you left. I want you like that again, I do. I just don’t know where to start, and with everything that’s happening right now I just didn’t think it was the time to have that conversation” 

Sephiroth leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He was not the type to argue, never had been, but Genesis could tell that he was holding his tongue. “Gen, then why the fuck was it the right time for _that?_ I get you two have grown attached, but I’m sorry, which is it? Please don’t tell me you’re leading him on, because that would be the worst thing you could possibly do in this situation, unequivocally the worst. Have a heart, Gen, c’mon.” He hadn’t raised his voice at all, but he was definitely agitated, he had been gesturing with the glasses he held in one of his hands as he spoke. 

“No...I do care about him, I do. But I...why does it have to be this way?” Genesis threw his hand down on the couch beside him, letting out a frustrated hiss. “I want both Seph, you can’t ask me to make a decision like that right now. For fuck’s sake, Angeal just died, I’m not ok in the head right now. Gimme a break, alright? I’m stressed the fuck out.” 

“So you just did it because you’re stressed? Because that’s not what it seemed like to me...” Sephiroth sat back in the cushioned piece of furniture, replacing his glasses on his nose and sighing. “It’s fine, Gen. Let’s not do this right now. I’m not being fair to you. Asking you to make a choice like that. I’m sorry. I had this idea in my head for some reason that...maybe we could try again, but it’s not that simple. And I’m not blind you know, I get why you’re attracted to him, hell, I am too...I’m sorry. It’s just, I’m protective of you, ok? I just don’t want to see you hurt...again, even though it was my fault last time...” He looked down at his feet now, defeated, head in his hand.

Genesis watched him carefully, he had hoped with everything he was, that Sephiroth would ask for him back, and in his own way, he just had. He didn’t know what to do. He looked or something to distract his attention. He glanced down at the laptop that was still laying on the coffee table. 

There was no movement on any of the screens, he was slightly surprised by this, he had assumed that Cloud would be visible on at least one of them, it would have been a pretty poor security set up if one of them wasn’t pointed at the back doors. He felt a wave of fear sweep through him. _Where is he?_ He shot up off the couch and ran to the doors, sliding one open as fast as he could, and pulling the curtains back. 

“Cloud?” He yelled out the back door out over the porch. There was a big concrete patio out behind the doors that was surrounded by bushes. It wouldn’t make any sense for Cloud to have gone far. Genesis was on high alert now. He ducked back into the house and ran back to where his boots were and pulled them on, hopping from one foot to the other as he did so. 

Sephiroth was standing, he had followed what was going on and was obviously just as worried as he was now, dead serious expression on his face. “He’s not out there?” 

Genesis shook his head as he finished putting on his boots. He ran down the hall towards the front doors, throwing them aside with two loud bangs as he ran through them. The doors hit the walls behind them with the force of his push. He ran down the front walkway and down the steps to the street. He ran out into the middle of the street and looked left and then right, as he turned to face the other direction he caught the light from the inside of a car door as it slammed shut, and the engine started. The black car had tinted windows and a blurred out license plate, it almost looked like a cop car, he couldn’t tell from this far away. He ran towards it, but it sped away. He turned a circle again, but saw no one out on the street behind him or on either side of the house. 

Sephiroth ran up behind him, keys in hand and jacket on. “Was that them?” He didn’t seem to think this was some kind of accident either. “I checked the footage, someone took him. We need to go, _now._ ” 

Genesis didn’t think twice, he ran to the car and opened the passenger door, jumping in. Sephiroth started the vehicle and hit the gas as soon as Genesis closed the door. Sephiroth’s car was high end, and the engine purred eagerly as they accelerated out of the neighborhood, making their way to the main road. They were lucky, there was only one way in and out of the grouping of homes. So hopefully they could catch up with them at the stoplight before the main road. 

“You said _them_ , was it more than one?” Genesis asked over the sound of the engine accelerating. He was trying his best not to think of the ‘what ifs’ right now, what could happen if they didn’t catch up to them, or what would happen if they _did_. He could only think about here and now, and focusing on the chase. That’s what he’d been trained to do, and he fell into a mission mindset. Retrieve the objective, eliminate anyone in his way. 

Sephiroth just nodded, focusing on the road. “Two men. I don’t know who, but this Reno guy must have people who work for him besides prison guards. It looked like they knocked Cloud out from behind. I doubt he’s conscious.” 

Genesis anger spiked, who the hell did they think they were to do this. Reno must be a more powerful man than Cloud had made him seem. This was not good. A man with this many resources would not be easy to find if they lost him now. He was beginning to understand why Cloud was so terrified of him.

They pulled up at the last turn before the stoplight. Sephiroth flung the car around the turn and it skidded hard on the asphalt. They sped up to the stop, looking through the front windshield at the two cars that were waiting for the red light to change. They both noticed the black car at the front of the line, it _was_ an undercover cop car. Sephiroth slowed and moved into the back of the line behind a beat up red Corolla. He knew that it would be best for them to act casual and follow them wherever they were going before making a move. But everything in him wanted to jump out of the car, run up alongside, and shoot the window open. Hopefully whoever was driving hadn’t been able to pick out Seph’s car from all of the nice vehicles parked along the side of his street earlier. Luckily they had parked a ways down the road, so they shouldn’t look too suspicious, as long as they kept enough distance. 

The light turned, and they all pulled out onto the main road, which was a two way highway leading to the interstate. They followed far behind, with the Corolla staying between them and the cop car. It had probably been assumed that they wouldn’t follow, or that they wouldn’t have noticed Cloud’s disappearance fast enough to follow. The cop car sped up the highway towards the main interstate, and then turned onto it heading south. They followed a ways behind, always making sure to keep a few cars between them. Neither he or Sephiroth spoke, they simply focused all their attention on the pursuit... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will they be able to catch up to Cloud's kidnappers? Will Sephiroth and Genesis reconcile their feelings for one another? Keep coming back to find out! :)


	7. Choice is an Illiusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud is taken captive by Reno, and is forced to face the reality of his current situation. Genesis and Sephiroth have to make some very difficult decisions.

Genesis (Continued)

After what seemed like an eternity of time on the interstate, the cop car signaled right and made for an exit ramp a few stops from the city. They had been traveling for about twenty minutes or so now, and Genesis was relieved that they were finally getting closer to their destination. They followed the car up the ramp, leaving enough room for a van to drive in front of them, though he was slightly worried when the van’s speed pushed them even farther back with its lack of acceleration up the slope. They made it to the main road off the highway and followed the turn left. They were in a very nice area, Expensive shopping malls lined the four lane road on both sides. He wondered again who this Reno was and how he could be connected so well that a cop car was carrying Cloud. 

They finally turned off the main road and into a very fancy neighborhood with enormous homes set far back from the road, most of them had gates at the end of their driveways and fenced in properties. There were no streetlights thankfully, and the road winded around so they were able to hang back behind the turns enough to conceal the fact that there were no cars between them anymore. 

Finally they rounded a turn and they didn’t see the tail end of the car in front of them, instead they saw the cop car stopped in front of a long drive, parked in front of an intimidatingly sized iron gate. The driver side window was open, and there was a head hanging out slightly, but it was impossible to see the person’s identity from where they were. The man, or at least it looked like a man, was speaking to the speaker mounted on a stone pillar by the gate. He pulled his head back into the car, and the window was rolled back up. Then the gate swung open, and the car rolled up the drive.

Sephiroth had parked them on the bend of the last curve, and had turned the engine and headlights off while they had watched the car at the gate. The gate had now pulled shut behind the vehicle, and the car had disappeared down the drive. Genesis couldn’t contain himself any longer, and moved to open his door, but Sephitoth grabbed his shoulder forcefully and held him there.

“Wait. We need to consider all the angles here. That was definitely a cop car, Gen. And Reno obviously has his hands in a lot of different things, law enforcement and the like. It would seem unwise to make a move before we know who we’re dealing with. The man probably has security personnel and cameras. There’s no way we’re getting in there right now. And even if we did, they could simply kill us and say we were breaking and entering. He would pay off a few cops, and the situation would disappear and Cloud would be stuck with the man for the rest of his life. We need to be _very_ careful how we approach this.” He looked as defeated as Genesis felt, but continued. “We need to focus on the long term goal, which is removing this man from whatever power he holds and getting justice for his crimes.”

Genesis crossed his arms over his chest, doing his best to control himself. “Are you trying to tell me that you don’t think we should do anything tonight?” He exhaled sharply, and forced his shoulders back into the passenger seat. Sephiroth’s hand had not left his shoulder, he seemed to want to both comfort him and keep him in his seat.

The taller man finally let him go, moving his hand to rest on the steering wheel. He looked at the enormous house that the car had pulled up to grimly through the windshield. He sighed heavily and now turned to meet Genesis’ gaze. “Yes. I do not think we would be doing Cloud any real favors by getting ourselves killed or arrested. We’d be throwing our only chance away for nothing. It’s killing me too, Gen. You know I can’t stand seeing people in pain. I’m in the business of helping people, and this is not something I will stand for. We will help Cloud, I swear it to you,” He stared Genesis down now, gazing at him more intensely than he ever had before, and the anger in his eyes was palpable. He looked like he wanted to kill something. Genesis knew he had before, and it would not be his first time, but even with how capable of a team he knew they made together, Sephiroth was still suggesting they wait, which meant that it was truly necessary if they were to free Cloud. 

Sephiroth hissed through his teeth, then started the car, driving by the house on their way out of the neighborhood to read the address as they left. They would come back, and Genesis _would_ get Cloud out, he had to. They pulled past and went down the road, the air heavy between the two men, with their unspoken resolve to make this right settling into their bones. 

Cloud

There was a loud ringing sound filling his ears, he couldn’t hear anything else besides it. He felt a heavy weight as if something was on top of him rise and fall with his chest. His breaths came short and fast, and he smelled a distinct musky smell that could only come from a certain incense that he recognized immediately. Panic crackled through his limbs and he twisted his neck and tried to force open his eyelids, but they were far too weighted for him to be successful. He could feel something dry and cakey on one side of his face that crinkled along with the skin as his face contorted in pain. Since he couldn’t open his eyes, he used what awareness he had to try and move his arms up to feel his face, but they were like lead, and as he twisted his wrists he found that they were being secured somehow, they must be strapped down. The already steady panic that churned within his abdomen rocketed up to his throat and he let out a hiss of exasperation through his teeth. It seemed like all he could control right now was his lungs and his facial muscles. He did his best to take stock of what he could from his horribly compromised state. He tried to tune out the static in his ears and make out any noises close to him, but there seemed to be no movement nearby. But there was only the steady smell of the dragon’s blood incense, that only one person he knew enjoyed. 

Cloud dragged his limbs as much as he could across the surface underneath him, only a few centimetres, and the skin that was bare right above his ankles and right above his wrist from being moved around while unconscious, scraped against a silky material that he recognized as well. His brain was seared with fear and it felt like a knife had been shoved through his skull. The cacophony in his ears got louder the more he tried to move, so he ceased any attempts for a moment, breathing in the musty warm air into his lungs in deep inhales. 

As the ringing subsided slowly, he was able to comprehend more about his situation, he knew where he must be, and he knew who with, or at least who had brought him here. And he even knew what he was probably laying on, and why his faculties were so out of reach. He was at Reno’s, probably with Reno, or at least he was somewhere in the building, and he was strapped to Reno’s bed in his room, drugged most likely. This was nothing new to him. 

But it didn’t change the fact that he had never expected to be here again, or at least he had let himself hope. But he realized with a pang of guilt that he should never have let himself think that way. If he could have smacked his own face right now, he would have. Why had he been such an idiot? He was going to catch utter hell for having avoided the man like he had, it would have been easier on him if he had just given in and gone to him right after he was released. This was going to be highly unpleasant. He already took the fact that the blood was still covering his face from being knocked out, by the butt of someone's gun he assumed, as a very bad sign. Reno could be absolutely vile and brutal, but he didn’t like to play with dirty things, he liked to appreciate Cloud’s beauty, and leaving him covered in blood was not promising, it meant he was more angry than he had ever been in the past. 

He felt a bit more feeling return to his arms and legs, so the sedatives must be wearing off, probably not sedatives actually, more likely narcotics of some kind, because even though he was panicking, he was still slightly euphoric, which meant whatever they had given him was most likely laced with heroin and painkillers. Reno had been the one who got him hooked, he drugged him a few times at first, then Cloud began to ask for it. He figured it was better to be out of his mind for everything, then bear dealing with whatever he was going to inflict on him sober. And because Reno always had the best shit, Cloud stayed around. For that, and the affection that Reno occasionally gave him. He had stayed because in the beginning it hadn’t been so bad. He had known Reno for a long time before they were ever in a relationship. As friends, things had been amazing. They had gone to university together, gotten close extremely quick with all their shared interests, and had genuinely loved each other. Cloud felt his eyes dampen as memories of their early days together floated through his mind. Their first kiss, their first time making love, the first time they traveled out of the country together, backpacking across the mountains thousands of miles away from home. The smiles, the laughs, Reno’s soft and gentle touch on him as they held each other every night. Reno’s beautiful _laugh._ What had happened? 

It ate him up inside constantly, looking for what had been the turning point, what had changed the man that had been his everything, his entire world. He still held onto a thread of hope that one day that man would come back, he knew it was naive, but he couldn’t accept that the man Reno was now, was the same one that had done the things that haunted his dreams every night. Sometimes when they were together, he would imagine it was _his_ Reno, and pretend it was all just some kind of dream, but it never really lasted. He felt a tear roll down his cheek and cursed himself. What the fuck was wrong with him? Grieving the memory of his metaphorically dead lover was not going to help him now. He was so high, and the memories just kept pouring into the swirl of his disorganized thoughts and hazy recollection of reality. The tears flowed and he felt the dried up blood reconstitute slightly on his face and stick to his hair that was laying across his forehead.

Eventually he peaked and then the heaviest waves of the narcotics rushing through his veins lessened and he was able to control his thoughts a bit more, and stop the tears. He needed to come to grips with where he was right now, and erect some kind of mental barriers before anyone noticed he was awake, so that whatever happened would be marginally easier to handle. He rubbed the side of his face on the sheets under him, he had acquired a bit more range of motion now, but his limbs tingled from the come down, it almost felt like his legs were regaining feeling from having fallen asleep. 

And then the cravings began. He already wanted more of what he had just experienced, he just wanted to _feel_ at all, and being that high brushed through all his emotional barriers like they were nothing, it had felt _good_. Even to cry. _Fuck, why, why does he do this to me._ His conflicting emotions rose up in his throat and he gasped the air as if he was guzzling water in a desert. He had lied to Genesis before, he didn’t just shoot up at the motel, he did it all the time, even in jail. Reno had made sure of that. Because it was much easier for Reno to get what he wanted from Cloud, if Cloud wanted something from him. It would be so much simpler to hate Reno if he didn’t make him feel _good._ And Cloud knew that was what he was doing right now, giving him a taste of what he was able to give him, making him feel guilty for not having come back. Like a dog that bit the hand of the person that feeds it. And he did, he felt _guilty_. What had he done? With that realization he slipped off into the blackness creeping up around his eyelids, and gave up completely. Whatever happened next was out of his control.

_____________

Cloud felt an ice cold hand on his cheek, he wondered why there was an invisible man in his dream, he refocused his eyes and wondered who was this stranger with rainbows on his skin, floating in his peripheral vision, as he felt his body surging through the rise and fall of the tide Were they still underwater, was this man drowning too? He felt his muscles spasm slightly, then felt a wave of clarity take hold of his thoughts roughly, pulling him out of his sleeplike state. He felt the ice cold feeling on his cheek removed then it came back with a smack against the side of his face, maybe they had been drowning…

He felt something wet slide out the corner of his mouth, saliva that had slipped out from the hit to the face he had taken. His head rolled to the side and stayed there, facing away from the stranger. He fought to open his eyelids further, but only made it about halfway. He could hear muffled shouting, barely audible whispers under the roaring of the waves in his consciousness. Then the cold thing gripped his chin and he felt his head being pulled back against his straining neck muscles to face the other side. 

He was becoming more and more aware now that they were most likely not underwater anymore, and perhaps they had not been in the sea at all. The rainbow man seemed familiar, he couldn’t quite comprehend from where. He took in two circles staring into his and he felt his eyes watering from trying to force them open, he felt now that there was a hand roughly gripping his hair tightly, and he felt the pull on his scalp. but the pain from it helped him to focus more on the face in front of him. He blinked his heavy lids over his eyes, which felt hot from all the irritation caused by the blood and sweat around the sides of them. He heard a rumbling of sound rushing across his eardrums, and he pulled at his wrists and ankles with a jerk and found that he couldn't move them. 

_Reno._ He remembered where he was now, the realization shot through his body and he jolted upright, but he was barely able to raise his head a few centimetres up from the mattress underneath him before his head slumped back down, hard, onto the bed. His eyes managed to pull open about three quarters of the way now, and his vision swam, the lighting was subdued thankfully, but just after he had opened his eyes, they were snapped closed again reactively by another slap to the side of his face, that left his half numb cheek seared with a hot burning sensation. It did help to wake his mind though, and he was undeterred from refocusing his eyes this time on the man leaning over him. The surface of the mattress dipped under him, and a weight pressing against his side. 

Reno’s face was blurry, but he could never forget those eyes, and he confirmed his mental deductions from earlier before he had passed out. He did his best to stare back at the man, his eyes began to blink the blurriness away, and he could finally make out Reno’s visage. He traced the curve of Reno’s cheekbones and the shape of his eyes. His brilliantly red hair hung down over his eyes, and the bright tattoos on his face were starkly contrasted by his pale white skin tone. He was honestly the most handsome man that Cloud had ever met, and Reno knew it too well. Reno could never go anywhere without receiving envious glances from both sexes, and he absolutely loved it.

Cloud coughed, and his body was racked with tremors, he could feel the beginnings of the icy chills from withdrawal on his exposed skin. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could finagle his way into Reno’s less malicious graces and find a way to bypass the come down. But he would have to be very obedient and charming to do that. He wasn’t sure he had it in him, Cloud’s rage at the other man was growing the more he returned to reality as he acknowledged his current situation. It was only going to get worse from here.

He felt his head yanked back by his hair and pushed against the bed, Reno closed the distance between them quickly, hovering over him with his upper body pressed against Cloud’s. Reno looked Cloud up and down, resting finally on his pained expression. Reno brought up a hand and hit him across the face again, and Cloud’s ears rang with the vibrations from it. But he chose not to react, and left his expression blank, which would be the exact opposite reaction Reno was looking for. 

Reno growled and held his face inches away from his, eyes narrowed at him. But in an instant his expression changed dramatically, he knew Cloud’s game, and he must have decided to play along since he wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. He smiled brightly and patted Cloud’s cheek, and then even more oddly, kissed Cloud on the nose while letting out a quiet laugh, then leaned back and sat on the edge of the bed, still watching Cloud’s expression with interest, arms crossed across his chest. But he didn’t appear angry anymore, and his shoulders were slouched nonchalantly. 

“Cloud, I’m so pleased to have found you, I was so worried, why would you run from me, sweetheart?” His face painted on a defeated and pained expression of hurt. “I thought you might have died, I was beside myself after I discovered you were in the hospital.” He placed a hand on Cloud’s chest gently and left it resting there as he continued. “Why would you do such a thing to yourself? What a waste.” He then leaned in over Cloud and stroked his obviously grimy hair delicately, almost pouting now.

Reno shook his head, then stood and began pacing the length of the bed, waving one arm in wild gestures as he spoke. “I give you my love, open my home to you, give you any pleasure you could possibly dream of, and now this? Love, I don’t understand why you would hide from me. Why didn’t you come home, I waited so long for you, pining everyday for your return to me. Just wanting to hold you, kiss you, love you!” He turned on his heel and hopped up on the bed again like a cat, placing his upper body over Cloud’s form, his hands on either side of the blonde’s torso on the mattress to hold himself up over the other man. He loomed over him, eyes slitted now, and stared at Cloud. “Why!” He shouted at him now.

Cloud licked his cracked lips, which tasted like iron, and shook his head to the best of his ability. “I know...I’m sorry Reno. I don’t know why I did it...any of it.” He had decided it was his best bet to stay mostly intact, and just told Reno what he wanted to hear. He could barely form words anyway, fighting or resisting would make it all worse. He was in no position or state to enact much of a defense. 

Reno’s eyes remained suspicious, but he appeared less angry then before, and he again took a hand, reached up from the bed, and combed through Cloud’s matted hair, nodding in response. “Sh...sh...I know, you must have been confused. Prison does that to a man, or so I’ve heard…” He smirked slightly, and cocked his head to the side, but continued on the same vein. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now, I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore, love.” Reno dipped his head and met Cloud’s lips with his own, his tongue entering the blonde’s mouth invasively as he twisted his head into the kiss, one hand pulling Cloud’s chin up into it. 

Cloud did his best to act responsive, but he knew it was a pretty pathetic attempt, he could barely move anyways, and his face felt numb still. Reno finally released him, and the taste of his mouth lingered, scotch and nicotine coated his tongue in a vile combination of fear and disgust. Cloud did his best to hide it by turning his face to the side as he was released from the other man’s grasp, closing his eyes for a moment. He felt the weight lift off the bed, and when he opened his eyes, Reno was standing beside the bed, holding a cloth in one hand and leaning over him with a small smile. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you cleaned up, and we’ll make this an evening to remember. Celebrate your return properly.” He reached down and began wiping the blood from the side of Cloud’s face, which was a great relief to him since the crust of fluid had been bothering him for some time now. He did his best not to sigh in relief, but he was still drugged and his attempt was only slightly successful. The water was warm and it cleared the sweat from the corners of his eyes gently, finally allowing him to see clearly without irritably blinking every few seconds.

Reno finished with a smug smile on his face, noticing that Cloud was relieved to have the grime removed, then sat down on the side of the bed again, placing the now dirty cloth on the nightstand. He patted Cloud on the head, which irritated the still restrained blonde to no end. 

Cloud remembered in that moment the touch of Genesis’ hand on his head the other night, and felt a deep sadness wash over him. Where had they been when all of this had happened? He recalled now, they had been arguing over their own relationship, and how he had been getting in the way. He had heard it all through the slightly cracked sliding door. They wouldn’t be looking for him, they'd be happy to be rid of him. _How convenient for them._

This was his life now. He’d better make the best of it. He pondered while biting his lip if he should ask Reno now or later. Then gave up on deciding and just asked, what was the point in waiting, this was his _real_ lover, and he would give him what he needed. 

“Reno, hun...could you give me something for the...pain please?” He looked sideways at the gorgeous man still sitting on the side of the bed. 

Something caught his eye and he noticed for the first time that the room was decorated differently than when he had last been here. He turned to the side and realized that the mattress was covered in silky black satin sheets and pillows, the room was extravagantly adorned with dark wood furnishings, and gold accents on both the sheets and furniture. The decor was a match for Reno’s outward appearance. Black suit and tie, as always, and gold kerchief and tie clip. He looked to be just as beautiful as when he had been here two years ago. When Reno had visited him in prison, he had been dressed down much more. 

“Of course, love. I’ll have Tseng come and help you, get you cleaned up. Then I’ll see to it personally that you get whatever you need.” Reno smiled at him in mock sympathy, as well as victory. He knew by now that if Cloud was asking to be drugged, that he wasn’t planning on putting up a fight. And now he also knew that his plan to entice Cloud’s cooperation, with the purity of the narcotics he’d been given earlier, had also been a success. Reno smirked now.

Cloud nodded and rested his head back on the bed heavily, he had been trying his best to keep it raised up for some time to get a better picture of his location and Reno, but with Reno’s agreement to his request, he let it sink back into the mattress. He had learned something from their dialogue as well. He now knew that Reno still had the same few paid security guards, or at least one of them was the same. That had confirmed his suspicions that he was locked in here, and it was unlikely he would be going into any other part of the house anytime soon. Reno gave inches for being given miles, but eventually, if he trusted Cloud enough again to stay, he would have a full run of the place again. Which was the best he could hope for right now. But Cloud was also devastated that Reno himself seemed to plan on coming back later, and that could only mean he wanted one thing. _Hell, well at least I’ll be getting high for it._

Reno smiled, then got back up off the bed and grabbed his hand as he did so. “Don’t worry sweetie, you’ll be feeling much better soon. I’m sorry for how those brutes manhandled you, I specified in one piece, but you know cops.” He smirked and lifted his hands in the air with a shrug. “Dirty bastards.” He watched as the implications sunk in on Cloud’s face, then turned quickly and walked to the bedroom door with urgency. “See you later tonight, darling. God, I’ve missed you so much.”

Cloud felt the last bits of hope that he had been clinging to die inside him. He went completely limp against the mattress and felt tears well in his eyes as he heard the sound of the door closing behind Reno. _That’s that then. I’m here for good._ He wanted to scream, but knew it was pointless, and would only make Reno angry. He wondered what time it even was, all the windows were covered with thick curtains that blocked out all light. Doesn’t matter anyway, better not to know. With that thought he closed his eyes and let the fear and exhaustion seep through his burning limbs. He did his best to let sleep take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed getting to meet Reno finally! My apologies for the late update. Please let me know what you think in the comments, I love hearing your suggestions and thoughts. Thank you! <3


	8. Investigation Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis and Sephiroth do their best to learn more about Reno. In the process, they discover a few precious pieces of information that might aid them in Cloud's rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience in the release of this chapter. I have been very busy with work, but I should be back on schedule from now on. Frequent updates will be resuming as promised! 
> 
> Much love, and thank you for all the feedback! <3

Sephiroth

The silver haired man sat down slowly on the couch beside Genesis, who was sitting like a statue on the piece of furniture, gazing blankly across the room, twisting his hands in his lap, knuckles white from the strain of gripping them together with more force than the man usually even held a weapon with. He looked like he was getting ready to murder someone, and Sephiroth mentally reevaluated, that they may very well be some time in the near future. 

Sephiroth handed Genesis a mug of coffee that he had just finished preparing, and the other man seemed to be thrown out of his trance, sitting forward with a jump, and taking the cup from his hands. The taller man watched him carefully, he was finding it hard to read Genesis’ mood, he seemed both sad and angry, hovering somewhere in between the two. He decided that given the circumstances that it wouldn’t be a stretch to try and comfort him, and placed an arm across the back of his shoulders, scooting closer to the redhead on the couch as he did so. Genesis didn’t object, in fact, he leaned into Sephiroth’s embrace and as he did, and Sephiroth heard a sharp exhale escape his lips. 

“I’ve been going over our options.” 

Sephiroth was unsurprised at the vein of thought the redhead was beginning. He as well, had been going over their best approach to Cloud’s retrieval. He had a few dodgy options parsed out so far, but none of them would directly guarantee success. 

“I was thinking that given what we saw at the house, Reno is likely to have hired private security. I could call in a few favors, and see if any of my old contacts have heard anything about this guy. He seems to be highly influential in the workings of the state, I doubt that they wouldn’t at some point at least have heard some information. A lot of them resigned and went into security, like me. Honestly, given what we know, I wouldn’t be surprised either, if he’s being watched by the government as well. Shinra is bound to have noticed someone like him. But just haven’t come up with enough on him to act yet. Hell, if I was still in the service, I could've been assigned to learn more about him.” 

Genesis finished sharing his ideas, placed the coffee on the table in front of him, and then stood up, shaking Sephiroth’s arm off his shoulders as he did so. He began pacing up and down the middle of the room, hand pulling at his hair thoughtfully. 

Sephiroth was slightly offended by being pushed off, but swept the thought aside, this was not the time. And he knew Genesis well enough to gather that it wasn’t personal, he was just trying to focus on their priority. And he had to admit that this was a much better angle than any of the ones he had been working on as he had brewed the coffee. They had returned to his home to try and regroup, reorganize their approach, and to consider all the options. 

He felt just as horrible, even possibly more so than Genesis, in leaving Cloud with Reno. He didn’t think Genesis probably understood the amount of damage Reno was probably capable of inflicting on Cloud’s psyche. He however, as a medical professional, that had observed Cloud’s behaviors, was a bit more aware of just how far it had gone in the past. And he was having a very hard time suppressing his emotions on the matter. Everything he had read from Cloud’s mannerisms had spelled it out for him clear as day, even if Genesis was choosing to ignore it to stay more sane, or if he simply was oblivious because it hadn’t been specifically laid out for him. Sephiroth had decided to keep those thoughts to himself. It wasn’t his place to share insight on Cloud’s past with Genesis, and it certainly wouldn’t speed up requisition of the man. 

“I think that would be a good place to start. I’m going to reach out to one of my friends in the local police force, see if she knows anything. She’s as straight as an arrow, and would be willing to publicly crucify anyone involved in this.” Sephiroth smoothed his hair with one hand, gritting his teeth, trying his best to conceal the flames of anger curling around the edges of his thoughts. “I think it’s crucial we cover ourselves from all sides of this. If we aren’t careful, this could easily flip around and turn on us. And we’re the only chance he has.” He added the last part with a slight hiss. He turned to examine the plant on the side table next to where he sat, trying to distract himself from his anger. If he went off, it would only take precious time away from their goal, and he really didn't want to rile Genesis up anymore than he already was. Still, it was a battle he was losing.

Genesis was still walking back and forth across the room, but he faltered after a few more paces and turned to face Sephiroth now. His expression was grim, his hair disheveled, and his lips pursed in a thin line. He stared at the silver haired man for a few moments, studying him, then walked back over and flopped down on the couch next to him. He sighed, then in a split second turned, grabbed Sephiroth’s chin with one hand, and pulled him into a furiously passionate embrace. Genesis pulled his knee up onto the sofa to give himself leverage, and he pushed his upper body up and over so that his chest was pressed up against Sephiroth’s, he pressed his lips against the other man’s with a crushing pressure. 

Sephiroth was completely taken aback, but he couldn’t deny the urgency within him, demanding he respond to Genesis’ touch. He wrapped an arm around the redhead’s back, pulling him close, crushing the other man’s upper body into his, leaning back into the armrest of the couch so that they were almost lying atop one another, and opening his lips to complete the embrace. They twisted around each other heatedly, and for a few moments everything else disappeared, Sephiroth saw fireworks of purple and orange flare up behind his closed eyelids, and he growled through the kiss, grabbing Genesis’ messy mane of red hair in a fist and pulling hard, which the other man responded to by pressing farther into his mouth and gasping for breath. He felt the younger man bite the edge of his lip, and he made a guttural sound in response. After a few more moments though, Genesis pulled back and carefully resumed his former position on the couch next to him, climbing back from over Sephiroth’s thighs and seating himself. 

Genesis sighed deeply, wiping his wet lips on the edge of his jacket sleeve. He looked incredibly pleased with himself, and also relieved. He seemed to have been confirming something for himself that Sephiroth could only guess at. The redhead rested his hands on his knees, and turned back to the taller man next to him. 

Sephiroth was still in shock, but he couldn’t deny that his body and mind had both responded to Genesis’ actions almost automatically. He pulled himself to a more upright position, using a hand gripping the back of the sofa to bring himself shoulder to shoulder with Genesis again. He sat there awkwardly, guilt rising up in his chest. He thought back to only hours earlier, when he had the redhead had been so distracted they had failed to protect Cloud, distracted by their own relationship. Sephiroth shook himself, physically moving his shoulders and head back and forth with a huff. 

He pulled his shirt so that it was straight across his chest again, and tried to console himself in his thoughts, like he would speak to a patient.  _ This doesn’t mean you don’t care about Cloud, it was a surprise, you weren’t prepared for it. _ “Jesus Gen, was that really necessary?  _ Now _ ? Of all times?” 

Genesis turned to meet Sephirroth’s blood curdling glare. He had a very slight smirk on his face, and he appeared to be blushing, but responded with an amount of clarity that Sephiroth was slightly astounded by, given that he himself was still recovering from the encounter. 

“I’m sorry, just had to be sure.” The smirk disappeared almost as fast as it had spread, and he seemed now to also begin to feel the guilt that had beset the silver haired man only moments before. “It was getting in the way, I needed to be able to think clearly, should be fine now.” Genesis read Sephiroth’s shame that shone unhidden across the other man’s face now. “Sorry, Seph.” He apologized again, then he shook his head and stood back up, pulling his phone out of his pocket and flipping it open, as he walked over towards the kitchen. 

“I’m gonna make those calls, be right back.” Genesis turned from his current trajectory towards the kitchen and deviated to the back doors. He pulled one open, pushed the curtain aside, and walked out. Leaving the door open slightly behind him. Sephiroth could hear the beginnings of a conversation, but it was too muffled to make out actual words. 

The silver haired man sat staring blankly at the wall opposite him, trying to regain his composure. He was angry now, at the timing of the exchange, and on top of that all the anger he still felt at his helplessness to do anything for Cloud. He thought about calling Aerith, but there was no point right now. She would be asleep, and it wasn’t like she could do anything without being at the office. He decided that instead he would just focus on getting control of his emotions, and meditate on their current situation. He moved to one of the armchairs, and seated himself with legs crossed underneath him, hands on his thighs, resting there lightly. He taught his patients a form of this, and he did so because it worked. He used it every morning and night to center himself after a long day filled with listening to other people’s problems and disturbing stories of their pasts. 

He began to monitor the rate and depth of his breathing, and let the thoughts rise up in his mind unbidden, dismissing each one of them as they came. Not focusing on any one in particular, just letting them slide through his consciousness. 

He was surprised when memories of him and Angeal resurfaced, Genesis and Isabel had been present too. They had been gathered at Angeal’s home, celebrating getting off after a long workday for all of them. Drinking, teasing each other. He remembered a few words he had exchanged with Angeal specifically. 

_ “Why do you stay then, if it's that bad? Sephiroth had been asking the ebony haired man, who had been venting about the corruption in the prison system.  _

_ “Well, because no one else gives a shit, and maybe I have a saviour complex Doc, but these guys really need someone to just be there for ‘em. There’s this one guy, just got there. Doesn’t even deserve to be there, heard his whole story the other day, it's a tough break, if anything he should be in a mental hospital. But I was curious, went and looked up his paperwork, snuck into the office while my boss was having a smoke. Seems like a couple bigwigs in Shinra must’ve signed off on keeping his paperwork classified. The file doesn’t even exist. So I don’t know what’s going on, but if you’re in a state prison, there’s no reason that kinda paperwork should be classified. Just smells a whole awful lot like corruption to me. But I don’t know, and there’s nobody that cares enough there to do any digging.” Angeal had gulped down the rest of his beer and placed it on the table. “I can’t do anything about that, I don’t have the authority, but I can be there, at least be one straight CO on the floor that doesn't let that kinda bullshit fly.”  _

_ Sephiroth had nodded carefully, then replied. “I think what you're doing there is incredibly important. But I’m not shocked this is going on, we all know that Shinra is just a network of the elite. There’s bound to be some corruption in individuals that are a part of it, even if the system as a whole might be there for a larger, better purpose.” He had removed his glasses after that and rubbed his temples. It had always killed him to learn of even more people that couldn’t get the help that they deserved.  _

__ Sephiroth gasped, and opened his eyes. He was alone in the living room still, seated on the armchair, but his hands were clutching his knees, knuckles white. What he had just remembered did not shock him, but it did aid in enlightening the depth of their current situation. If he recalled correctly, that conversation had happened a couple days before he and Genesis had separated. This was very possibly much deeper than they thought. It was imperative they learn more about Reno’s connection to the government, and who was aiding him in detaining and keeping Cloud captive. 

Having decided to end his small meditative session, he climbed up off the chair, unfolding his legs in one graceful motion, and grabbed the still open laptop up off the coffee table. He X’ed out of the camera screens and decided to see what public information there was available on Reno, if any. 

Sephiroth sat back down, typing urgently on the computer in his lap. His first couple searched brought up too many names, so he tried again using a few keywords. Such as “Shinra,” “government,” etc. These popped up a smaller list of names. All government officials by that title. He decided to cross reference, with location, and see if any of them lived in the state. Finally, he narrowed it down to two names, the first was an older man, retired, whose first and last name didn’t match, but lived in Reno, a couple states away. The second, was of a government official as well, whose names didn’t match either, but the name of his son did. He clicked the link for more information, and he was taken to a newspaper headline that read: “Son of Esteemed Politician Shirks off Expectations With Lavish Lifestyle Choices.”

Sephiroth saw a picture of a young man, a few years younger than Cloud’s current age, getting out of a limo. He had red face tattoos, and brilliant red hair. In one hand he gripped a bottle of what looked like champagne, and in both arms he hugged a man and a woman close to him. He wore a suit, but it was a mess, untucked button down that was wide open down to his pale statuesque chest. The woman in one arm was tall and lanky, in a gold sequined dress that was exceptionally short, and with the face of what he could only assume was that of a model. In the other arm, clenched around the waist, was a young blonde man, a few years younger than the redhead. 

The blonde had very long hair, almost down to his chest, and an earring that looked like a lion's head in one ear. The man was wearing a bright red leather vest that clung to his otherwise unclad upper body with tightness that even Sephiroth had to stop and appreciate. His hair mostly covered his eyes, but he could make out the fierce blue gaze of Cloud staring away from the camera that had taken the picture. His expression was void of emotion, and so was that of the model’s, Sephiroth observed. Neither of them seemed very pleased with the redhead, but both looked like they were easily high out of their minds. 

Sephiroth took in the two’s haunted expressions, and the fact that he had just uncovered the identity of Cloud’s captor. He sat back into the chair for a moment, taking in the image with frustration.  _ So this is Reno _ . Angeal’s suspicions were right, just not as much of a conspiracy as he thought. Reno’s not directly connected to the government, but his father must definitely be. Maybe this entire thing wasn’t a conspiracy, just some kind of backwards coverup to protect the dignity of a currently in office politician. Sephiroth shook himself from his trance, and leaned back towards the laptop screen. He scrolled down the article page, scanning for pertinent details. Most of it was political smearing, but there were a few key names. The names of Reno’s father, Rufus. And then the name of the model, Yuffie. Who was apparently famous in her own right.

Sephiroth decided that was all he could glean from the article, and decided to move on, searching now the names of Rufus and Yuffie. Rufus was a senator for the state, currently in office, though soon to retire this year. He had passed multiple legislations that were very helpful in aiding the more poverty stricken portions of the population, and he had also founded multiple shelters to aid LGTBQ youth. He seemed to be well liked by the press, and most of the state’s population. Sephiroth couldn’t find anything else, besides the first article he’d found, that was even remotely negative having to do with the man’s character. He grabbed a notepad and pen from the jar that was on the side table next to him and wrote down a few notes, adding details from the first article too.

He moved on next to Yuffie. The first things that popped up were images of her most recent photo shoots, all stunning. She had a raw, unfiltered beauty about her, that even a man only interested in the same sex could still appreciate. He went to her fan-page next, but nothing could be found that was helpful, except the option to schedule a photo-shoot, which had a number to her manager. That might prove useful, but not likely, since why would she want to answer questions for a random man that was an acquaintance of Cloud?

Sephiroth didn’t even know if Yuffie and Cloud had any kind of friendship, or relationship for that matter. He supposed he shouldn’t rule anything out, but it didn’t seem like something that would help at the moment, so he put it on the backburner for the time being, taking her manager’s number down though, just to have it. He went back to the search page now, scrolling down in case there might be anything else he could cross reference her name with related to Reno or Rufus. He was almost ready to give up, then he came across another old article, on the same website as the other from earlier, even the same journalist. The heading read: “Son of Senator Hit With Assault Allegations.” 

He clicked on it quickly, and the screen popped up both an image of Reno, and Yuffie. Two separate photos opposite each other. The photo of Yuffie was obviously taken from her website, Reno’s was in front of a courthouse on a rainy day, under an umbrella that was being held by what appeared to be some kind of hired security guard. The date was one year later from the previous article. Reno was dressed in a suit properly this time, gold kerchief in his pocket, and gold tie clip fastened, he appeared to be uninterested in the proceedings and was shoving a camera aside. 

Sephiroth quickly scrolled down the page, perusing the article for details like the other. This time he found more interesting information that was not directly politically in nature. The supposed attack had taken place in Reno’s home, the same neighborhood that they had tracked the cop car to, only hours before. There had been a trial, in which the model was said to have lied about being attacked, and they found her guilty of perjury under oath. There had not been enough evidence to form a proper case, or at least that was the journalist’s opinion, and one of the witnesses had been Reno’s security guard, which the journalist found to be a somewhat dubiously biased witness. The entire thing smelled like a farce, at least that’s what the author of the article had implied, and Sephiroth was inclined to believe his take on things, especially given their current situation. 

Having exhausted the possible options available via publicly legal means, Sephiroth sat back and finished the last of his notes, scribbling furiously on the notepad. His glasses had fallen down his nose, which he pushed back up with an aggravated sigh, using his index finger to slide them back into place. He hadn’t noticed that Genesis had come back into the house, having been so focused on his research into Reno, he was oblivious to most stimuli around him. 

The redhead leaned over, resting his hands on Sephiroth’s shoulders as he did so, making the silver haired man start slightly, causing his glasses to fall down his nose again. He detested being surprised, but was happy that the other man had returned, he was eager to share what he had discovered. 

“Dammit, Gen.” He hissed, “You know I hate it when you do that.” He saw Genesis staring with open mouth at the article pulled up on his screen, and sighed. “Nevermind, just look at this. There’s more too, I found a picture of him and Cloud together, from quite a few years ago.” 

Genesis continued to stare at the image of Reno and his security guard in front of the courthouse. He closed and opened his mouth several times, then shook his head. His expression was worried, and also extremely angry. His hands tightened on Sephiroth’s shoulders. “That’s Tseng. I used to work with him, back when I was in intelligence.” He grimaced. “This is going to complicate things, though not necessarily in a bad way. Maybe this can actually work to our advantage.” He stood upright behind the chair, releasing his grip on Sephiroth’s shoulders as he did so. 

Sephiroth turned and looked over his shoulder at Genesis, who was standing behind him, arms crossed. His face held no clues as to what he was pondering, but Sephiroth could see that his jaw was set tightly, and he was probably stewing over the amount of time that was passing as they fumbled for ideas for Cloud’s release. Sephiroth handed the notepad over his shoulder to the younger man, who took it without really looking at it. 

“Show me the other one.” Genesis said coolly. Sephiroth thought about objecting, thinking it might not be best to give him any more ideas of what Reno looked like, but Genesis could make his own decisions. He pulled up the other article, switching to the other tab on his laptop with a few taps on the keypad.

Genesis leaned back over his shoulder, this time resting his hands on the back of the chair. He growled under his breath at the image of Cloud and Reno. Cloud looked faded past the point of recognition, and his expression was lifeless. He appeared to in no way be appreciating Reno’s hold around his waist. Genesis slammed a fist down on the back of the chair angrily. “That bastard. Look at him! Cloud’s high out of his mind. I bet you Reno’s to blame for that too. Fuck. And on top of it all, he’s already evaded charges once, who's to say he can’t do it again?” Genesis must have also read the headline above the image on the other article while identifying Tseng. 

Sephiroth closed the laptop and placed it on the side table next to him, then sighed. “Your anger isn’t going to bring him back. Look at the information I collected, see if any of it sparks an idea.” He stood and faced Genesis, looking at him intently over the chair. “Do you think maybe Tseng would talk to you?” 

Genesis let out a huff, he was quite riled up at this point. He looked at Sephiroth and let out a deep exhale. Obviously trying to calm himself. “Yes. Probably, but I can’t guarantee that he’ll be able to actually help us. Given the date that image was from, he’s probably been part of this investigation for awhile, they’re probably still collecting evidence. And since Cloud has nothing to do directly with what they’re looking for, it’s unlikely Tseng will get authorized to act, even given the current situation.” 

Sephiroth nodded, running his fingers through his hair thoughtfully. “Alright, well, you should still contact him. See what you can find out.” He looked up at Genesis, redirecting his gaze up from the carpet to meet the redhead’s brilliant eyes, which were filled with anger and anticipation. “Were any of your old contacts able to give you any information?” 

Genesis shook his head. “No, nothing that you weren’t able to find out from public records.” He bit his lip, arms still crossed over his chest. “I’ll go call Tseng. I don’t give a shit what time it is, that fucker owes me anyway.” 

He turned on his heel and walked into the kitchen, opening his phone again as he did so, and examining the notes that Sephiroth had compiled on the notepad. He grimaced as he scrolled through them, he must have begun to realize how long this had all been going on. The dates Sephiroth had laid out spanned the past seven years. This was no fling, this was a long standing relationship. If Cloud hadn’t gotten out when this all started, it either meant he felt like he would be in danger if he did, or worse, he had been deluded into wanting to stay. 

Sephiroth sighed heavily and sunk into a seated position on the couch. He felt both defeated and determined at the same time. What he had discovered had overwhelmed him, but not surprised him. They already knew that Reno was influential, or at least knew someone who was. He wondered if Rufus was even aware of his son’s predisposition towards violence. He had to be, given all the public attention centered around the assault allegations. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if Rufus hated his own son. Either that, or he was in on the whole thing, and was covering his own ass as well. 

Sephiroth pulled the laptop onto his thighs and reopened it. He pulled up the tab on Yuffie, scrolling to the bottom of the model’s page, and stared at the number there.  _ It’s worth a shot. _ He decided that since it was the middle of the night, not to call, but instead to email. He filled out the information request form and typed a few lines into the message box. His finger hovered over the keypad hesitantly for a moment, then hit send. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)


	9. The Waiting Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis does his best to get information from Tseng regarding Cloud's situation. Cloud floats his way through a painful night of internal loneliness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't resist posting another chapter since I had waited so long between the last ones. Hops you guys enjoy these! Again, thank you so much for all the comments, kudos, and feedback <3

Genesis

He waited anxiously for Tseng to pick up, the ringing continued unanswered until it went to voicemail. Genesis smacked the counter top in front of him loudly, then he took the phone down from his ear and redialed. He waited again, listening intently to the line. He knew that Tseng would eventually pick up if he annoyed him enough. He just hoped that he didn’t get annoyed enough to turn off his phone. He found that he was tapping his foot on the kitchen tiles beneath him repetitively, turning circles by the fridge. He ran a few fingers of his free hand through his hair roughly. _C’mon you asshole, pick up the goddamn phone._ He realized that he wasn’t just angry because he couldn’t get a hold of the man, he was angry that Tseng had been around Reno this whole time, and probably knew everything that had been going on, and had done nothing to stop it. Right now Genesis hated the man’s guts, but he was a tool to get what he wanted and he would have to control himself if he wanted his cooperation.

It went to voicemail once more, and he decided to try one more time. _Threes are lucky, right?_ He dialed again and waited, walking back and forth along the length of the counter and running his hand along the top of the granite. He stopped dead when he heard a muffled rustling on the other end. He checked the phone screen and saw that the time of the call was actually counting up. Someone had answered. He waited, listening for any sounds on the other end. He heard what he thought sounded like footsteps, then the sound of a door closing. 

In a whisper, a voice finally answered him. “Gen, what the fuck are you calling me for at three in the goddamn morning? It couldn’t have waited a few hours? Christ.” The words were almost inaudible, but Genesis was still able to tell how much annoyance laced the words.

Genesis almost laughed aloud, then thought better of it. “Hey man, I’m sorry, but this really couldn’t wait.” He bit his lip, pondering how to go about having this conversation. _Keep it simple._ “Are you still assigned to the Senator’s family detail?” 

He heard a hiss on the other end of the line, then a sharp inhale. “Why, who wants to know?” He could tell by the hesitation in the other man’s voice that this was obviously still a very much active op. Otherwise Tseng wouldn’t be having as much trouble keeping his tone even. 

“You don’t have to confirm, just don’t deny it. I can gather enough from that.” He hesitated, expecting Tseng to deny it, but the line was silent. “There’s a guy that Rufus’s son, Reno, took a few hours ago. He was brought to the estate home. Tall, blonde, in his twenties, goes by Cloud?” The line was still silent. “Just don’t say anything if you know who I’m talking about.” There was no response, only the very faint sound of muffled breathing on the other end. _Fuck, he’s there now isn’t he?_ He knew that Tseng would never give away classified information to him, but he could frame it in a way that he didn’t have to. “Alright...I need to know if you’re making any moves soon, or if I need to take this into my own hands _…_ ” 

Tseng didn’t say anything for a few moments, then answered, even quieter than before, an almost inaudible whisper. “Just hold tight. I’ll call you back.” The call ended abruptly, and he heard the dial tone chime loudly in his ear.

Genesis pulled the phone down from his ear and deftly ended the call on his end. Very slowly replacing the phone in his pocket. He was in shock. He had expected Tseng to be able to shed a bit of helpful insight, what he had not expected, was for Tseng to literally be in the home that Cloud was being held in, at the exact moment he had called. This wasn’t a bad sign, the complete opposite, but just waiting for this to be dealt with, without any real knowledge of how or when, was not what he had been hoping for either. _Jesus, this is beyond fucked._ Knowing that this had been an active investigation for this long made his stomach turn. Cloud’s been dealing with this the entire time, and no one has even bothered to put a stop to it. This was all politics, they didn’t want to take the Senator or anyone in his family down until he was out of office. 

_While he’s still in office..._ A realization dawned on him and he started slightly. Genesis ran into the living room, skirting around the edges of the couch and landing on the seat beside Sephiroth, who was scrolling through a website curiously. He seemed completely absorbed and Genesis doubted he had heard anything of their conversation. He grabbed the laptop out of the other man’s hands, pulling it onto his lap hurriedly, and began typing furiously.

“What on earth, what are you doing?” Sephiroth asked with a confused expression. “Did you speak with Tseng?” He noted the crazed look in Genesis eyes and seemed to take that as confirmation. “What did he say? Gen? What the hell are you doing?”

Genesis finished typing and pulled up the search results with a tap on the keypad. _I knew it._ “The Senator is retiring today, this afternoon they're holding a ceremony and swearing in the next in line for office.” He pointed at the article he had pulled up on a local news site, turning the screen to face the other man, who nodded in response. He seemed to already know this information. Genesis decided to finally let go of the laptop that Sephiroth had been trying to grab back from him and sat back into the couch. “Tseng was at the estate, the one we followed the car to. He didn’t confirm any details, but he definitely knows who Cloud is. I think they’re going to be arresting either Reno or the Senator once he’s out of office.” 

Sephiroth almost dropped the laptop as he put it down on the coffee table. He turned to look at Genesis with wide eyes, the silver blue of his irises shone brilliantly, and he seemed shocked, but not necessarily completely taken by surprise. He continued to stare at the redhead for a moment, then leaned back heavily into the couch with an audible sigh of relief. “So the bastard will be getting the justice he deserves, if not much too late.” Sephiroth shook his head, “I don’t understand, why wait this long?”

Genesis shook his head as well, “It has never been about Cloud, or maybe even Reno, it’s something to do with the Senator. I don’t know exactly what he’s going to be charged with, but he must have done some pretty awful shit, besides enabling his son. But at least without Rufus’s resources, Reno won’t be able to continue on like he has been. His entire world is about to be turned upside down. He’s going to spend the rest of his life under the microscope of law enforcement.” He smoothed his hair back, it had long since been removed from a ponytail, and was hanging into his eyes in a wavy mess. “I’m concerned though, that Cloud might not ever get any restitution, I don’t think they intend to make that side of the story public.” As soon as he finished the sentence, his phone started ringing, and he pulled it out of his pocket quickly, and answered the call. 

“Yeah.”

Tseng’s voice echoed through the device hollowly. “Be here at 6:30 AM, I’ve been authorized to discreetly extract Cloud. Both Reno and Rufus will be gone prepping for the ceremony, and the higher ups don’t want that added to the spectacle later today.” He heard a sharp exhale. “I’m trusting you to keep this under wraps, my career will be on the line if you don’t follow through.” His tone was hard and cold now. And as if he could already anticipate Genesis’ angry retort, he added, “I’ve collected enough evidence. your guy will get his, but in time.” 

Genesis had started to spurt out a string of expletives, but fell silent as the last sentence was muttered. He furrowed his brows angrily, and he turned to Sephiroth, who was sitting close enough to have been able to hear the conversation. The silver haired man raised his eyebrows, but he nodded at Genesis encouragingly. Their priority was Cloud’s well being, restitution could wait. And Sephiroth was doing what he could to convince Genesis of the same thing. 

The redhead muttered a few choice words, shaking his head. This was the kind of shit that he had not been able to stand for while he was still in the service. The waiting around to make the right, calculated move, the political correctness of it all, the procedure. He had just wanted to help people, it was that simple in his opinion, you see someone in trouble, you help them. But that was the kind of shit they were unwilling to accept, he had royally fucked up too many missions with that mindset. Almost got people killed. This was no time for pushing his preferences, he was getting the chance to help Cloud, and he needed to take it. If he didn’t, Cloud would most likely be dropped at a hospital counties away, with no understanding of how or why he was there, this was definitely the better option. 

“I’ll be there.” He said and hung up the call immediately after. 

Genesis thought he had his emotions under control, but couldn’t quite force the lid on the boiling pot of anger within him. He threw his phone across the room, and it landed much less dramatically than he had expected, thumping soundlessly onto the thickly carpeted floor. He almost laughed at it, but felt a catch in his throat, and decided better of it. 

He was incredibly relieved that Cloud was alive, but it felt like a hollow victory, he himself hadn’t been able to really do much, they were only saving him from having to be with people he didn’t know. Wasn’t much of a rescue. He knew it was ridiculous to look at the situation from that perspective. This wasn’t about feeding his rescuer complex, it was about what was best for Cloud. But even though he could logically reason through it in his mind, it didn’t lessen the feelings of helplessness or self hatred he was experiencing.

Sephiroth seemed to understand and put an arm around him. He had watched Genesis lob the phone across the room with a blank expression, choosing not to react either positively or negatively to the action. 

“I know that this is not what you wanted, you’re not swooping in to save the day. But given what Cloud has just been through, you’re going to be much more of a real help than you think. Reno is going to get what he deserves, it just won’t be you who's personally dishing it out. In my opinion, and I can understand if you could care less about that right now, being the only one there for him, like you have been, and intend to be in the future, is the most important thing you can do for him.” He patted Genesis thigh comfortingly, then stood and walked through the space between the furniture towards the stairs. “I’m going to get a few things together for when we leave, you’re welcome to help.” 

Genesis knew he was just trying to distract him for the next few hours before they departed, but all he could think about was what was happening to Cloud right now, and if they were truly saving him from anything. He pictured the image of Cloud and Reno together again in his mind, and bile rose in his throat. Cloud had looked so far away from himself, so utterly devoid of life in the photo online. He couldn’t imagine what had been going through his mind the moment it had been taken. Genesis knew he was never going to allow anything like this to happen again. He had already failed to fulfill his promise once. _I’ll be damned if I let it happen twice._

Cloud

Cloud lay on the bed, bare limbs coated in fresh sweat and back covered in deep scratches, which were irritated as it was rubbed into them by his weight pushing down onto the bed. He stared up at the black canopy curtain, tracing the golden embroidery along the edges of it. He felt a new wave of the high wash through him, and felt as if he was floating under a starry night sky. He blinked and the canopy appeared almost like it was dipping down to him, he raised a heavy arm to try and touch it with his index finger, but it was still too far away to reach. He sighed deeply, and rolled over on his side under the breathable sheets. He felt his chest muscles stretch and pull at the fresh blade marks over them. The blood still oozed out, it no longer flowed as it had a few minutes earlier, but it created a sticky sensation that the sheets caught on when they brushed up against them. They hardly bothered him though, his mind swirling with a conglomerate of euphoric sensations. 

Reno lay next to him, also staring up at the canopy curiously, he wore a sweet smile on his lips, eyelids half closed due to how high he had gotten as well. They both soared up and over waves of pleasure together, the remnants of what they had just experienced in unison. Cloud couldn’t help but stare at the beautifully detailed ink on Reno’s chest and shoulders, red and gold dragons eating one another’s tails, flying amid dark clouds. Cloud could almost pretend, while in this heavily altered state of consciousness, that it was years ago, a perfect moment spent together in silent bliss. His mind hovered on the concept, wanting to see if he could recreate that kind closeness again. He scooted closer to the other man and hesitantly felt along his ribcage, following the length of one of the dragon’s gem crusted belly. He could see the slow inhale and exhale of the other man’s breath, still catching up with him after his exertion. Reno redirected his attention from the canopy to Cloud’s hazy facial expression, and he gently grabbed Cloud hand where it trailed along his abdomen and held it for a moment. 

Cloud was ecstatic at the contact and made to curl under his arm, but Reno obviously had not intended to entice him into his space, and he smacked Cloud’s hand away in response, elbowing him under the chin, hard enough for Cloud to wince. Reno sat up and immediately climbed up and out of the bed with a growl. Cloud’s happiness plummeted in an instant from bliss to utterly hollow emotional deprivation. Reno pulled on his pants from where they had been lying on the carpet and flung his shirt over one shoulder, he was the picture of cruel and unusual beauty in that moment, poised, looking at Cloud laying in the bed with many emotions heavily written across his face. 

Reno’s eyes held almost a hind of sadness. He shook his head like a dog coming out of the rain, and walked up to the waist high dresser beside the bed, and gulped down the remnants of an almost empty tumbler filled with liquor. He buckled his belt, turned and took one last look at Cloud sprawled across the length of the bed, looking like a lost lion cub, mane of blonde hair hanging in tussles around his chiseled jawline. Then he strode to the door and let himself out silently, not bothering to turn back again.

Cloud almost sobbed, but he kept it in his throat with a choked sound that was almost a gulp. He pulled the sheets up to his shoulders as he sat up in the middle of the bed and looked with drooping eyelids about the room. The door to the bathroom was open and a small amount of light from it created a doorway shaped painting of brightness on the carpet in front of it. Otherwise there was only light from one lamp across the room from where the end of the bed was. There was beauty in the dark, and he took it in, distracting himself with the waves of euphoria rushing through him still, emanating from the needle mark in his inner elbow. He looked at the side table, there was still a half full bottle of expensive whiskey atop it, and a syringe with a small amount of fluid in it. Not enough to do what he wanted though. 

He grabbed the bottle and gulped down about two shots worth, wiping his mouth on his arm. The sensation of the burning liquid felt like nothing to him, and his body remained numb to most sensations. He took another sip from the bottle, then replaced it on the shelf. There was nothing left of tonight, it was floating away as he watched, just another night, another night of the same, like it always was. Again, and again. He sunk back down into the downy mattress and let his eyelids slide shut. All he could do was float... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience with the updates! Much love <3


	10. Mistaken Identities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis and Sephiroth go to meet up with Tseng, but Cloud's current state of mind is not what they expected.

Sephiroth

He pressed his foot on the gas pedal, accelerating slowly along the curves of the elegantly designed neighborhood that the Senator’s son lived in. In the early morning light it was possible to make out much more than he had on their previous trip here. There were small ponds of water surrounded by beds of colorful spring flowers, and thick groves of birch and pine trees along the edges of the road, hiding the residences through layer upon layer of branches and tree trunks. The sun had barely risen above the horizon line, and the road remained shaded by the trees, only small specks of light made it through, giving the appearance of a worn wooden plank studded with holes beneath the car. 

Genesis sat silently in the passenger seat. He had been on the phone a few minutes ago with his employer, asking for the day off. And now he was calling Tseng to see if there was any specific way they should be entering the residence. He had spoken in a very calm and quiet tone on the call, and seemed to have collected himself almost completely since his outburst earlier. He seemed very focused on their objective now, and determined not to let his emotions get in the way. It was critical they keep it together for Cloud.

Sephiroth watched Genesis out the corner of his eye. His brilliantly red hair shone in the light as small beams of sun filtered into the car through the heavy thickets of trees. Sephiroth was happy that he had a flexible schedule and could basically make his own hours for his practice. He had called Elena a bit ago to arrange for a few day hiatus from the office, to which she had seemed concerned, but had asked no personal questions. That’s why Sephiroth had hired her, she was professional. He listened intently to hear what Tseng was to tell them over the phone, Genesis had placed it on speaker so that he would be able to hear as well. 

The phone rang four times, then was answered on the fifth. A quiet voice answered with no greeting, but instructions. “The gates open, pull around the side of the house. I’ll meet you out there.” Then the call ended, just as fast as it had begun. Sephiroth glanced at Genesis, but his expression was stoic and gave away nothing of what he was feeling. That was needed right now, so he was overall pleased to see that the man was no longer on the verge of an angry outburst, but he worried secretly how it was going to come out later. 

They pulled around the last curve towards the house, the one they had parked on last night to watch as the car had gone through the gate. Sephiroth slowed the vehicle just enough to make the turn into the driveway and followed it down the long path to the home. There were large flower gardens studded with tall trees across the yard on either side of them. It was almost an eighth of a mile or so until they reached the home. It was an enormous building, a sprawling two story home, almost a mansion or sorts. It had decorative pillars around the main entrance and a large patio that wrapped around the entirety of the circumference. It was mostly painted white, with black flashing and glass walls along the length of the front of the home. 

Sephiroth pulled past the front of the house, and stopped along the side of the building, the driveway looped in a circle around a small fountain, and on the right of them there was a four car garage. He put the car in park, and waited. It was only moments before the closest garage door started rolling up, and Sephiroth could make out two sets of legs in the space from the pavement. 

As it neared the top he saw a tall broad shouldered man with long black hair in a suit approaching the vehicle. He had the arm of a man that could only be Cloud, held across the back of his shoulders. The younger man was wearing a white button down, that was much too big for him, untucked and mostly unbuttoned on his upper body, and what looked to be the same pair of black jeans he had on the night previous. Cloud was almost fully being supported by Tseng’s muscular frame, and his booted feet mostly scraped over the pavement, occasionally setting a foot down, but gaining no leverage, and having it slid out from under him by the taller man. His head rolled over his shoulders and his eyes were almost shut. The blonde's hair was hanging in a tousled mess, like he had just gotten out of bed. Which Sephiroth realized might be true. 

Genesis opened the passenger door and quickly rushed out to grab Cloud’s other arm and hoisted it across the back of his own shoulders, helping guide the oblivious blonde towards the rear door of the car. Sephiroth also climbed out of the car and hurried to the other side of the vehicle, pulling open the door to the rear passenger seat. Genesis took over for Tseng and guided Cloud’s only slightly responsive body into the car, leaning down so that he could rest most of Cloud’s weight onto the seat, then carefully extracted the younger man’s arm from around his shoulders. He then slid the blonde’s frame across the back seat, pulling up his legs into the vehicle after him, tucking them down behind the passenger seat. He closed the door gently, so as not to hit any part of Cloud’s legs. 

The redhead turned to Tseng once Cloud was safely inside the vehicle, an expression of pure rage on his face. He stepped toward Tseng, who backed up a few steps, but made no other movement to indicate he was affected by Genesis' anger. Sephiroth stepped between them, chest facing toward Tseng, and one arm outstretched behind him, and gripping Genesis' wrist in one hand. 

“Thank you.” He said to the bodyguard. Who nodded in response and seemed to take that as his cue to leave, walking back into the garage, and past a sleek silver sports car which was parked inside.

Genesis exhaled a hiss through his teeth, but shook his arm from Sephiroth, and walked quickly around to the other side of the car, all the while watching Tseng’s back as he walked away, gaze like laser beams burning holes in the back of the guard’s neck. Genesis climbed into the back of the car carefully, slowly wedging himself under Cloud’s shoulders, placing the blonde’s head on his lap gently and pulling the door closed behind him. Sephiroth shook his head at the redhead’s show of rage, and then strode quickly back to his open car door and climbed into the vehicle, pulling it closed as he sat down in the driver’s seat.

Sephiroth took the car out of park, and whipped them around the circle drive as swiftly as he could manage, heading back down the drive a bit faster than was probably necessary. He watched in the rearview mirror as Genesis' expression shifted drastically from rage to concern, he was looking down at Cloud with sadness written across his face, sadness and hurt. Sephiroth looked up back at the drive and realized they were already at the main road, he pulled them through the gate and turned a bit quicker than he needed to, concerned that they leave the residence as fast as possible, even though Tseng had seemed sure that they wouldn’t have any trouble, he still thought it best to depart in a timely manner. 

“Seph, careful. Take it easy, we’re fine, Tseng said it was all clear.” He eyed Genesis through the mirror and nodded. Genesis looked back down at Cloud, and his expression was confused. Sephiroth saw a hand reach up and touch Genesis' face, fingers grazing his chin softly. Genesis' eyes widened and he looked like he had seen a ghost. “Why... is he smiling?”

Sephiroth was now at the stop light at the entrance to the neighborhood, but there were no other cars present, so he took the opportunity to look over his shoulder at the two. Cloud had a blissful expression on his face, his eyes barely open, hand reached up and holding Genesis’ hair in a fist. Genesis looked completely out of his depth, and even slightly scared. 

“He’s probably high as a kite, Gen. At least he’s not worked up, that would be much harder to deal with right now.” Sephiroth scrutinized the two, Cloud’s hazy understanding of the world around him, and Genesis’ pale face riddled with both confusion and worry. “He’s just drugged, he’ll be fine.” 

Sephiroth turned back to the road in front of him, and signaled so he could pull out onto the highway. He continued to eye Genesis' expression through the mirror carefully, keeping him in his peripheral vision. They pulled out onto the other road, and finally Sephiroth felt the oppressive weight of being followed, leaving him. Genesis had been right, no one was coming after them. He continued to follow the road until they reached the interstate, then turned onto the ramp and accelerated as he merged into the oncoming traffic. 

He watched curiously as Genesis took hold of Cloud’s fist of his hair and gently untangled it, bringing the blonde’s hand down, but keeping a tight hold of it with his own. It was silent for a while, then Sephiroth made out a few words that were muttered by Cloud, barely audible, but loud enough for him to make out most of the sound over the car’s engine running. 

“Missed you babe…” Sephiroth determined Cloud’s first murmured words over the din of the traffic. Then it continued, and Sephiroth noticed that Cloud’s hand was tracing lines down Genesis’ cheeks, almost as if tears were falling. But he could tell through the mirror that the redhead was quite composed, besides his stark looks of confusion back and forth from Cloud to Sephiroth’s gaze in the mirror, as if he was looking for the other man to confirm what he was seeing and hearing. 

“Where’d they go…?” Cloud questioned, Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder at Cloud, who seemed both confused and sad. It appeared that he was searching for something in Genesis' face that he couldn’t find.

It dawned then on him then, that Cloud might think that Genesis was Reno. He was looking for the red streaks that Reno had tattooed on his face. Sephiroth realized in that moment, this was much more complicated than they thought. Perhaps Cloud’s relationship with Reno hadn’t always been like this, maybe they had even loved each other once. _He’s not going to take this well, once he realizes where he is._

Sephiroth watched as Genesis shushed him and held his hand again, he heard him saying sweet comforting things in response to Cloud’s sadness. “I’m here, I’ve got you now.” He heard Genesis whisper softly. 

Sephiroth felt a pang in his chest, and the torn feeling he had felt before slowly set back in. He recalled how he had felt when Genesis and Cloud passionately kissed in his living room. How it had both excited him and worried him. On one hand he was worried that neither Cloud or Genesis was ready to form any kind of relationship right now, and on the other, he felt excited and even joyful that they were capable of showing that kind of affection for each other. It meant that there was hope for Cloud yet. But the jealous feeling that had overcome him last night nagged at him, and the guilt over it washed through him as he drove, trying to focus on the task at hand. He decided to stop paying attention to them, and only watch the road in front of him. There was a lot that still had to fall into place, and things were bound to complicate quickly. So he enjoyed the quiet and the morning sun that was shining through the windshield. _One thing at a time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the shorter chapter, the next one is longer so I needed to break it up a bit! Thank you for reading guys! Much love <3


	11. Body Free, Mind Imprisoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud begins come to, but his behavior is extremely concerning. Sephiroth and Genesis find themselves finally expressing their feelings for one another in a more articulate way.

Genesis

They had both worked together to carry and half drag Cloud’s docile person into Sephiroth’s home, and settled on laying him on one of the couches and covering him with blankets. Genesis sat across from him, waiting for some kind of responsiveness to alert him to the younger man’s sobering up, but none came, in fact, Cloud seemed to be dreamily pleased with himself, occasionally lifting his head and looking over at the redhead with a small smile spread across his face. Genesis would wave covertly when Cloud peered over at him to confirm he was still there, and Cloud would occasionally laugh giddily and then slump back down onto the couch. Seohiroth was in the kitchen, making some kind of breakfast, which Genesis was disinterested in, even though it smelled amazing.

Sephiroth had assured Genesis that it was best to let the high taper off slowly, and not to force it with any other substances, but he was impatient in waiting for Cloud’s lucid mind to return. Genesis had sprawled out on the sofa, resting his feet up on the armrest across from him and was examining the ceiling. He was still contemplating how Cloud had acted in the car, he hadn’t seemed at all phased by their presence, or that he was being taken somewhere. 

Genesis was concerned that this might not be just the drugs, but from a severing of Cloud’s mental faculties from the reality of the world around him due to the shock of everything he had just been through. Well, at this point, he wasn’t really sure anymore what it was Cloud had been through. He seemed overall to be quite happily lounging about on the couch, paying neither Genesis or Seohiroth any real mind. Genesis had also realized the blonde seemed to have settled on treating him as if he was Reno, or whatever fairy tale version of Reno that Cloud had fabricated as a coping mechanism. Maybe an earlier version of him in their relationship. Either way it was beginning to disturb him. 

Genesis turned as he heard the blankets over Cloud rustle, the younger man seemed to have regained a little more control of his body, he had managed to sit all the way up on the couch. Cloud was looking around with wide eyes, but he still seemed overall unphased by his surroundings. He cocked his head to the side, looking through the sliding doors, the curtains were drawn aside to let the sun in, Sephiroth had pulled them open when they arrived back at his house. He stared out the windows for a moment, drinking in the stunning view of Sephiroth’s flower beds behind the patio. Then suddenly he turned to Genesis and smirked. He winked at him and coyly gestured for him to come over. 

The redhead was unsure of how to handle this, but decided just to play along. He pulled his feet down from the armrest and climbed off the couch. He took the two steps it took to cross the distance between them, and sat on the edge of the coffee table across from Cloud. The blonde smirked and gestured for Genesis to lean in closer to him. He decided it was best not to and shook his head. But Cloud was immediately upset by this. He grabbed the front of Genesis sweater and pulled him into him towards him, pressing his warm lips against Genesis’ forcefully. He could taste and smell the whiskey on him. Genesis reacted immediately by pulling back out of the embrace, but Cloud held tight still onto the front of his sweater, a look of horribly striking despair painted on his face. Genesis had grabbed Cloud’s hands gently, trying to pry the one off of his sweater as carefully as he could. 

Cloud gulped for air, then started shaking, his grip on Genesis was released, but he rolled his body over so that he was facing the back of the couch. His body was racked with tremors, and Genesis could hear panicked breathing coming from the blonde’s lungs, he didn’t need to see his expression to know that he was on the upswing of some kind of attack. 

Genesis knelt down next to him and pulled the blankets back up to his shoulders, trying his best to calm him but placing a gentle hand on his arm. He was torn, maybe he should have just let him kiss him, but he knew that Cloud was so out of it right now, that he had no idea what he was doing, and he hadn’t wanted to take advantage of the situation. All of this was too much to process, he had no idea what to do. 

“Seph, I need you over here.” He called into the kitchen. Sephiroth had been standing in front of the sink, and Genesis heard the water shut off immediately. The silver haired man came striding quickly into the living room. He looked worried, but calm, evaluating the situation objectively through his glasses. 

Sephiroth walked over next to Genesis and peached on the edge of the coffee table, like Genesis had been before. He pushed on the redhead’s chest and backed him away from Cloud. this annoyed Genesis, but he backed up and sat back onto the carpet, a couple feet away from the couch. Sephirth took Genesis’ place kneeling by Cloud’s head, and gently pulled Cloud around and up, cupping his hand around the back of his head so that it was resting on the armrest. Cloud sat up and grabbed Sephiroth’s arms and pushed into his chest, gripping the fabric of the older man’s shirt in both fists. 

“Cloud, it’s ok, you’re safe here.” Sephiroth seemed also a bit out of his depth and just looked down at Cloud’s sweaty mop of matted hair, and the hands clutching at the fabric over his chest, he hesitated for a moment, arms held in the air away from the younger man, then gave in and wrapped his arms around Cloud delicately. The blonde leaned into his embrace and then wrapped his own arms around the other man’s upper body, holding him close. Sephiroth sighed, he appeared slightly unwilling to be involved in this kind of closeness. But he did not let go, and remained where he was, which seemed to be exactly what Cloud needed. His breathing slowed and he went limp against the other rman, now resting all of his weight against Sephiroth.

Eventually, after a few minutes like this, Cloud twisted his head up and looked at Sephiroth’s face, he reached up a hand and ran it through Sephiroth’s hair, which was falling down around Cloud’s head. Cloud twined his fingers through it, bringing it close to his face and examining the strands with curiosity. He let go of the lock of silver hair after a few moments and stared with wide eyes up at Sephiroth’s calm countenance looking down at him. 

“Hey, Seph.” He said, ever so quietly. Then Cloud hugged Sephiroth's frame once more, before looking over Sephiroth’s arm and staring at Genesis. His eyes narrowed at him, and Genesis felt his heart drop down to his stomach with the hatred in the glance. 

Cloud looked back at Sephiroth’s face with a disturbingly dark scowl. “Why is he here…?” He whispered up into Sephiroth’s ear. Genesis had made out the whispered question, and immediately felt a deep sadness wash through him. Cloud must have thought he was Reno this entire time. He had tried to kiss him because he thought he was the other man, not because of any real affection for Genesis. This didn’t anger him at all, Cloud was still clueless as to what was going on, but he had managed to identify Sephiroth, which brought up a strange jealousy in his stomach, twisting around it like a vice. It occurred to him that he and Reno were relatively similar in appearance. He shouldn’t take it personally, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t human, it still hurt.

Sephiroth raised his eyebrows, but seemed to understand well enough why he had asked. “That’s Genesis, do you remember him?” He tried to coax the realization out of the blonde, glancing over his shoulder at Genesis, and taking in Genesis pained expression from where he sat. Genesis had moved up into the armchair across from them from the floor, and was averting his gaze as best he could from the two of them so as not to appear threatening. But he glanced back at them as Sephiroth looked at him, making eye contact hesitantly with the other man. Sephiroth seemed saddened as well, but appeared like he was doing his best to remain detached from the situation.

Cloud widened his already surprised looking eyes and looked around Sephiroth’s arm again at Genesis, cocking his head sideways. Realization seemed to dawn on his face, and he started breathing quickly again. “Wait...no...where am I…?” He looked back up at Sephiroth, panic spreading over his face, he looked genuinely horrified. He clutched at Sephiroth’s shirt again.

“You're in my home, with Genesis. where you were the other night, before you were taken.” Sephiroth seemed to have decided not mentioning Reno’s name was a better choice at this point. He looked down at Cloud inquiringly, looking for some sign of recognition on his face. 

Genesis watched as Cloud’s head darted back around Sephiroth to stare at him again, he tried his best to meet the younger man’s gaze with a small halfhearted smile. This was much worse than he thought. _What happened to him?_ Cloud’s mouth hung open for a moment, then he let go of Sephiroth and leaned back into the arm of the sofa, seeming to deflate and melt into the piece of furniture. He wasn’t panicking anymore, but he didn’t say anything either. He stared up at the ceiling. He reached up towards it with a finger, as if he were trying to touch it, then lowered his hand, having realized it was too far away.

“Reno…” He whispered, then Genesis watched as his face crumpled into a painful, sorrowful expression. He saw that tears were now starting to streak down his face, and the blonde curled up into the couch, facing away from them again. His shoulders moved as he cried, silently.

Sephiroth pulled the blankets up over Cloud’s shoulders and rested a hand on his arm for a few moments. Then he stood and walked over to stand next to Genesis chair, facing away from Cloud. “Leave him be for now, he’s coming back to reality, and it’s not going to be an easy transition. He probably didn’t remember until now what had happened. C’mon, I could use your help in the kitchen.” He added, then walked back towards the other half of the room, onto the tiled portion of the floor.

Genesis got up and followed him into the kitchen, his still booted feet clacked on the tiles. He moved to the opposite side of the island opposite Sephiroth, and slumped onto one of the high stools that lined the granite counter. He stared at his feet for a few moments, taking in what he had just seen, then redirected his gaze up to the other man, who was moving a bowl from the counter into the sink. “What happened, Seph? I don’t understand why he’s so upset to be rid of that piece of shit.” He searched Sephiroth’s expression for some trace of an answer, but his visage was clouded with a swirl of different emotions. 

The other man rested his elbows on the counter after he had finished moving the bowl, and finally met Genesis eyes. He looked sad and conflicted. “Probably because at one point they actually loved each other. He’s looking for the comfort of a man that doesn’t exist anymore. He is aware of the fact that that version of Reno is lost, but he’s not going to want to acknowledge that for some time, that would mean admitting that everything that’s happened to him is real, and that none of it was what he wanted. That’s a much more terrifying reality to face.” Sephiroth removed his glasses and set them on the counter top, rubbing his temples.

Genesis grimaced, that’s not what he had wanted to hear, but he had guessed as much. He looked around the counter, and saw that Sephiroth had taken it upon himself to prepare a few different breakfast items, which rested under lidded pans on the stove. The smell made him seasick, but he couldn’t deny that he was hungry. Sephiroth noticed his stare and redirected their conversation onto a lighter topic. 

“Want a plate?” He asked with a smirk. Genesis wanted to refuse, but he couldn't bear to upset both Sephiroth and Cloud in the course of the same hour.

“Sure.” Sephiroth pulled a stack of plates out of the cabinet behind him, and handed one to the redhead. “Thanks.” He hopped up off the chair and walked around the counter, he slid behind Sephiroth and selected a few things from the pans and put them on his plate, replacing the lids quietly. 

The sun from the window above the sink was bright and warm on his back, and as he turned to move back around the other side of the island, Sephiroth moved to stand in front of him, blocking his way. He was starkly beautiful in the sunlight, hair shining brilliantly down around his shoulders and chest, and his eyes shone like crystal globes, without the glasses to block the colors of his irises from swirling in rainbows of cool blues and greens. Genesis almost bumped into his chest awkwardly from staring up at him. He was only a few inches shorter than the other man, but it seemed like a much greater difference when he was this close to him. 

Genesis' wide eyes looked up at him, and he was surprised when Sephiroth gently took the plate from his hand and set it down on the counter next to them. He then moved up to Genesis so that their chests were almost touching, and slowly wrapped his arms around Genesis back, pulling him into an embrace that Genesis felt himself melting into. Sehiropth leaned down and made contact with his lips, ever so gently. 

Genesis greeted Sephiroth’s lips with his own and they leaned into each other passionately. he was surprised that _this_ was Sephiroth’s version of the right time, but didn’t object, he was most likely trying to comfort him in the wake of all the sadness that had been so palpable in the air around all of them. He grabbed the back of Sephiroth’s neck with his hand and brought the silver haired man’s head down lower into the kiss, blissfully twisting into it, all darker previous thoughts leaving his mind in an instant. He was completely consumed by his love for the man. This had been all he had wanted for the past two years, just to feel this again. He closed his eyes and made concentrated effort to capture every sensation in his mind, like catching a lightning bug in a bottle to watch during the night. 

After what felt like a sliver of eternity, Sephiroth pulled back and released him slowly, but kept his arms wrapped around the redhead lightly. Sephiroth had an intoxicating smile on his lips, and his eyes were half closed in blissful ignorance of the world around them. He looked down at Genesis, “Thank you.” He said softly, and reached to brush the mess of red hair away from Genesis’ eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated.

Genesis gazed up at him, a similar expression of contentment on his face, “You can say it, it’s ok Seph.” He wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's neck, and tapped a kiss on his nose gently, and Sephiroth blushed, a rare sight.

“I love you.” Sephiroth said finally, after a few more moments of hesitation. He blushed more deeply, then glanced sideways, obviously worried that it was too much of an admission of his true feelings.

Genesis sighed and pulled Sephiroth close to him again, resting his head against Sephiroth’s cheek, and appreciating the sensation. “I love you too.” He said without thinking twice. It was true, and he had always felt that way since he had met the man, it had never left, not for a moment. 

The other man smiled again and held him close, letting Genesis rest his head against his own. They pulled apart at the same time gently, and Genesis sighed at the break of contact. He placed his hand over the side of Sephiroth’s perfect face, staring into the man’s eyes longingly. “Thank you.” He said. He knew that admitting that had been incredibly hard for Sephiroth.

The green, blue eyes looked back down at him, full of both happiness and anticipation. He actually seemed excited. Like he was looking forward to the future, a future with Genesis’ in it this time. After a moment, he looked up and over Genesis’ shoulder, and frowned in stark contrast to his visage a few seconds before. “Hm...Cloud’s gone somewhere.” He said in a worried tone, though the level of his voice remained quiet.

Genesis turned halfway out of Sephiroth’s arms and looked into the living room behind him, the couch was empty and the blankets were strewn over onto the floor. He shook his head and fully removed himself from Sephiroth’s embrace. He sighed and walked into the other room quickly, Sephiroth close behind him. He looked down the hallway towards the front door where the bathroom was located, but the door to it was open and the light was off. He redirected his gaze to the back doors, and found that one of them was wide open, the curtain pulled aside. Cloud could be seen sitting on the edge of the patio, holding a cigarette in one hand, and head directed up towards the sun. 

He let an relieved exhale escape his lungs and made to walk outside, Sephiroth had stopped a few paces behind him once he had seen Cloud was still visible. Genesis turned back to him, surprised that he had stopped following. But Sephiroth’s expression was content and he waved a hand at the redhead, gesturing at the doors. “Go ahead, I think he’ll be happy to talk to you, now that he realizes where he is. Two of us at once is probably a little much anyway right now.” He smiled encouragingly at Genesis. 

Genesis nodded his head and turned back in Cloud’s direction, walking outside as quietly as he could, so as not to disturb the blonde, who appeared to be somewhat calmed by the quiet of the outside. He strode up next to Cloud’s side, who didn’t react at all to his presence, still fixated on watching the sky above him. Genesis lowered himself so that he was sitting on the patio as well, a few feet away from Cloud. He pulled out his pack from inside his jacket and then removed the jacket, folding it and placing it on the concrete next to him, it was relatively warm in the sunlight. He sparked the cigarette, then took a puff, looking out over the sprawling yard.

As he exhaled the smoke he commented on the scene in front of them. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” He sat back and leaned on his arms stretched out behind him. 

Cloud hadn’t taken his eyes off the sky still, but nodded slowly in response. He finally turned after a few more moments of silence and looked at Genesis. “Thank you.” He said quietly, looking at Genesis straight in the eyes, the blue shone brightly through the strands of blonde hair hanging over his face. He took a hit off his cigarette. “You could’ve just left me there, but you didn’t. Just like you didn't leave me before, at the hospital.” He said through the exhale of smoke. The blonde sounded much more lucid, and like he had finally been able to grasp what was going on around him. 

Genesis was surprised, but he hid it from his face, instead smiling gently in return. Cloud took in his expression, then turned back to the yard, not seeming to want much more eye contact then had already been made. “You don’t have to thank me, any sane person would want to get you out of there.” Genesis found that his expression had darkened considerably at his own words. “I have to apologize, Cloud. I promised I would never let that happen. I’m sorry.” He looked down at his feet hanging off the patio, and ashed his cigarette into the grass below him. 

Cloud started and turned to look at him again. He seemed surprised at the apology. Then he shook his head a few times in objection. “It’s not your fault. Reno’s nuts, you had no way of knowing how far he’d go.” Cloud looked down at his chest, realizing that his shirt was almost completely unbuttoned, and he pulled it closed with a shrug. 

Genesis could still make out the greenish bruises that were beginning to fade from Cloud’s time in prison, but he could also make out fresh cuts across his chest, almost as if a knife had made them. Shallow, but deep enough to have bled decently when they had been made. They stood out drastically from the pale shade of his complexion. Genesis had noticed them in the car, but had almost forgotten, given everything that had happened after while Cloud was inside. He opened his mouth to say something about them, but clamped it shut quickly. It would probably be best to leave that topic off the table for the time being. He assumed Sephiroth had noticed as well, but had chosen not to bring it up, which was as good a sign as any for Genesis to refrain from commenting, but he couldn’t help himself. 

Genesis nodded in belated response to what Cloud had said, the younger man was staring at the sky again, eyes closed. He looked over at him, Cloud’s upturned profile stood out against the green of the grass, his countenance outlined perfectly by the natural scene behind him. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and that’s fine, you don’t have to…” He hesitated, then continued. “But can I at least patch those up? Looks painful man.” He added the casual moniker at the end of the phrase to infer that he was simply trying to help. He waited for Cloud’s response cautiously.

The blonde turned back to him, opening his eyes slightly, but not all the way in the bright sunlight, squinting slightly at the redhead. “I’ve got it. Thanks though.” He took the last drag off his cigarette and threw the butt in the grass. Sephiroth would have a field day with them for that, but Genesis didn’t care right now. He wasn’t really surprised that Cloud had refused his offer, but was torn, he just wanted to do something, anything, to help. But he knew there was nothing to be done right now, except keep the other man company.

Cloud went to stand up and Genesis followed suit, also tossing the last of his square in the grass. He smirked internally at how annoyed Sephiroth would be later when he was out fussing with his plants. The man’s hobby was slightly humorous to him, but he had to admit there were much worse things he could be spending his free time on. 

The redhead was thrown out of his thoughts as he saw Cloud trip as he tried to stand up, and start to fall. Genesis took the step and a half it took to reach him, grabbing him under the shoulder in one swift movement, bringing the blonde’s closest arm up and over his shoulders. “I’ve got you, c’mon.” He grunted as he took most of Cloud’s weight, he must still have been too intoxicated to walk. He gently gripped Cloud’s arm across his shoulders and stepped them towards the backdoor that was still open. 

Cloud had flinched at the contact at first, but had succumbed in exhaustion. Knowing that he was incapable of getting back inside the house without help. They walked towards the door, moving legs in tandem, Cloud barely able to keep up, but managing as best he could. “Thanks.” He muttered close to Genesis’ ear, breathing heavily from the exertion it took just to walk.

“Don’t worry about it.” He replied. Concern for the younger man was growing as they neared the door, Cloud seemed much more out of it that Genesis felt he should be at this point. He would have figured his high would have worn off by now, but it still seemed to be going strong. _What the fuck did Reno give you?_

They reached the door and Genesis angled them through it carefully. He moved them back to the couch and gently lowered Cloud’s slender frame down onto the sofa. Bending his knees as he did so, only releasing the other man once he was seated. He unwrapped Cloud’s limp arm from around his shoulders and turned to watch him worriedly. He was worked up into a state of alarm over how sick he seemed. Cloud laid back on the couch and Genesis bent down and lifted Cloud’s booted feet up onto it with him. He knelt down and pulled off the boots one at a time, they were untied still, Tseng must not have had much time to get them on. 

“Gen, c’mon, stop it. You can quit being my mother now” The blonde muttered at him lifelessly, head leaning back heavily against the armrest of the couch. His arm was over his eyes, hiding his expression, but he was with it enough to know that it was Genesis removing his shoes. He kicked his foot out halfheartedly, but Genesis just pushed it back down onto the furniture with a huff. He remembered only yesterday when Cloud had pulled him close into his gentle embrace, meeting their lips as he had untied his boots the last time. The memory rose up to his mind’s eye. 

“I’m not your mother, but someone’s gotta look after you. I mean, jesus man, you're not doing so hot.” He finished placing the boots on the floor and looked up at Cloud, who still had an arm over his eyes, but had ceased his efforts to stop him. Either out of exhaustion, or the futility of the action. 

Genesis stood up and looked down at Cloud, trying to make eye contact, but he remained in the same position. His shirt had been pulled open again by the movement, and Genesis could see the reddish glare on the freshly drawn blood from the light hitting the long cuts over his chest. “I’m cleaning those cuts, they’re bleeding again, Cloud.” Genesis refused to just leave him there like that.

Cloud raised his arm slightly and looked down at himself. “For fuck’s sake. Fine.” He seemed to have only added the last part after seeing the blood that was starting to darken the edges of the white button down. He glared at Genesis from under his arm, his blue eyes shone with genuine frustration at the redhead. He rolled his eyes in an uncharacteristic show of annoyance, Genesis imagined it was the drugs still pumping through his system that was giving him the confidence to show this much audacity, when he was typically more subdued in nature.

Genesis crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at him, unwilling to take his shit. “I’ll be right back, you better stay put.” Cloud only huffed at him in response and replaced his arm over his eyes. 

Sephiroth had walked into the living room from down the stairs a few moments ago, and had quietly seated himself on the open couch, leg crossed over the other. He was pressing his fingers together, elbows resting on his knees. Genesis finally turned to him, having seen him come down while he was removing Cloud’s boots, and raised an eyebrow at him, subtly asking if he had witnessed Cloud’s unusual behavior. Sephiroth simply waved a hand at him, and this time Genesis rolled his eyes. Typical of him to wave off his concerns, but he knew on some level it was just to keep things low key. Sphiroth’s inconspicuous way of keeping Cloud from being self conscious. He was already dealing with enough, he didn’t need to be worried about what Sephiroth and Genesis were thinking of his odd mannerisms at the moment.

Genesis just shrugged it off and took off out of the room to the bathroom down the hall. He knew Sephiroth would have stashed some medical supplies somewhere. When they had been together before, Sephiroth had patched him up many times when he had come home late at night, bruised and bleeding from some kind of bar fight or scuffle he had gotten into. When he had been at his worst, he had always been willing to pick a fight with anyone, for any reason. Towards the end of their relationship he had been able to bring those occasions down to a minimum. Being in a steady relationship had helped, but he had gone right back to it after Sephiroth had left him. Angeal had put him back together afterwards, and had slowly helped him realize his individuality again. 

Genesis felt himself overcome with sadness again at the thought of Angeal. He was determined to figure out what had happened. He wanted to wait and see what happened with Rufus and Reno this afternoon first. But he doubted the dots had been connected with what had happened in the prison, to either the Senator or his son. He would do everything in his power to make sure Angeal got the justice he deserved. It occurred to him that he hadn’t spoken with Isabel again since the accident. He would do it later today, after things calmed down a bit more. 

Genesis turned and walked into the bathroom, flipping the lights on. It had two sinks, and a shower, though he knew Sephiroth only used the one upstairs. He stepped over to the closet and opened it. There was a small box on the top shelf that he recognized, it was exactly as he remembered, Sephiroth had never taken the supplies out, just moved them to the top shelf. He laughed silently, there was a future for them still yet. He pulled the container down off the shelf and rummaged through it, there was plenty here he could work with. He decided just to bring the whole thing out into the living room.

Genesis flipped the bathroom lights back off as he walked out, and made his way back to the living room, container full of medical supplies under one arm. He found that Cloud and Sephiroth were both still in their respective positions on both the couches. Sephiroth had placed a mug in front of Cloud, which appeared to be filled with coffee, which the younger man was staring at blearily. Sephitoth himself was also sipping on a cup of if as well. 

“I don’t think it could possibly hurt to drink something, Cloud. Or eat something for that matter.” The silver haired man said calmly. He took another sip of his drink and then placed it on the coffee table in front of him. 

Cloud blinked at him. “I am not speeding up my come down, I know what you’re trying to do.” He closed his eyes again. “Sorry, not happening.” 

Genesis ignored their conversation and placed the box of supplies on the table top, then perched on the edge of it, closest to Cloud. He grabbed a couple alcohol swabs from the container and ripped one open. He leaned over and made to start cleaning one of the more prominent cuts on Cloud’s chest, the gnarliest one that was obviously still seeping blood around its edges. 

Cloud jerked away and waved him off. “Please don’t. Leave it.” He made eye contact with Genesis, and he could see the shine of his eyes, they were wet around the edges and he looked like he was forcing himself to keep it together. They were wide and fearful, obviously his rejection of help had little to do with the concept, and much more to do with pushing people away.

“I’ll be quick, I promise.” Genesis eyed him carefully, but did as he asked and withdrew his hand from over Cloud’s chest. He wanted him to know he had a choice, he wouldn’t force it, but he was going to do his best to convince the blonde. “I’m used to patching people up Cloud, it was part of my job.” 

Cloud just stared at the ceiling, eyes clenched shut. He stayed that way, laying silently for a few moments. He reopened his eyes, but continued to stare upwards. “Fine.” He growled out through clenched teeth. 

Genesis nodded and reached back over, pulling the edge of the blouse aside gently, and began cleaning the cut that drew a line from the top of Cloud’s left shoulder down towards his right hip, ending across his ribcage. Cloud hissed and put his arm over his eyes again, doing his best to ignore the redhead’s closeness to him. Genesis noticed quickly as he worked his way down Cloud’s chest that there were other marks hidden mostly by the sides of his shirt. Burns that were scattered in groupings along his ribs, that the fabric stuck to from the fresh fluid seeping from them. He hesitated, hand hovering over the ones on Cloud’s closest side, but he finished cleaning and covering the largest cut with a sterile adhesive pad from the container he had retrieved. He moved on to the other three, smaller cuts, doing the same. 

Cloud made no more sounds or movement in response to the alcohol hitting the marks, and was actually almost inhumanly still. He kept his face covered by his arm as well. Genesis was finding it hard to guess whether he was ashamed of letting anyone see the marks, or if he was just too tired to be bothered to move. But he placed his bet on the former. This was worse than he had thought. He finished quickly with the blade marks, he was sure now after closer inspection that’s what they were from, he was no stranger to identifying injuries. He leaned back and placed the crumpled remains of the outer wrapping from the last adhesive bandage on the table next to him. 

“The burns will get infected, if they’re not treated soon.” He said to the younger man, trying to take as clinical of a tone as possible. He had wanted to start on them immediately, but knew Cloud would object to him trying to remove the shirt, even though the garment was sweaty, now bloody, and wreaked of liquor. 

Cloud put his arm down and pulled up the edge of the button down, looking under it at the burns on either side, eyes furrowed in frustration. He did appear to be feeling slightly better though, now that the cuts were cleaned and covered, his movements were less restricted as he sat up against the armrest and lowered one of his legs down so that his foot rested on the floor. He sighed, then glanced at Genesis. “I’ll do it.” He swung his other leg down off the couch and made as if to stand up, buttoning the blouse up to his neck as he did so. “Can I shower with these?” He gestured towards the bandages on his now covered chest.

Genesis nodded, “Yeah, those are waterproof. Lemme get you some clean clothes, hold on.” He held up a hand that signaled to wait, and then got up, grabbing the container off of the table as he went. He walked over to his open duffle bag, which was on the floor next to the chair. He bent down and grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt out of the bag. He knew that Sephiroth’s clothes would be too big on Cloud, Genesis’ clothes almost were too. The blonde was shorter than him, but very slim, in comparison to Genesis' more muscular frame.

Sephiroth had chosen to keep himself out of their interactions entirely, and was busying himself with something on his laptop, which he had pulled onto his knees while Genesis had been applying the bandages. He now glanced up at Genesis and then over to Cloud, he seemed to have something he wanted to say, but decided against it, and resumed typing on the computer. 

Genesis gestured with the armful of clothes for Cloud to follow him, “Here, bathroom’s down the hall.” He watched out of the corner of his eye as Cloud struggled to stand up, but made it this time, though he was still quite wobbly legged, and he had to rest his hand on the back of the couch to steady himself. Genesis walked down the hall slowly, giving time for the blonde to follow him, and keeping him in his peripherals in case he lost his balance again like earlier. Cloud was moving quite slowly, but he managed this time. 

Genesis walked into the bathroom and placed the clothes and the container next to the sink, turning around as he did so, to find Cloud hovering outside the bathroom doorway, hand resting against the hallway wall to hold himself up. Genesis walked out of the bathroom to give the other man space, and flipped on the lights on his way out. “Just yell if you need one of us, ok?” He tried his best to keep the protectiveness out of his voice, but couldn’t help his concern from coloring the edges of his tone. 

Cloud nodded and passed by his shoulder, meandering his way into the bathroom and pulling the door closed behind him. Genesis felt fear well up inside him, he was still leary of leaving the other man alone, especially behind a lockable door. But he let the moment pass, and exhaled the worry that had risen in his throat as best he could. 

Genesis walked back down the hall and went to sit in the chair next to Sephiroth. The other man looked up as he came back into the room. “Always the rescuer, Gen.” He smiled very slightly, and Genesis felt the trepidation about leaving Cloud alone depart from him. Sephiroth didn’t appear worried, and he was going to take that as a sign to let it go. He could only control a situation so much, Sephiroth had taught him that. Letting go of control of other people’s actions and the events around him had been the first step in leading a happier life. 

“Yeah, yeah I know.” He shrugged the underhanded compliment off, he knew that the older man truly appreciated that side of him, and he was just teasing in his own way. He sat down in the chair and let a deep sigh escape him. 

Sephiroth looked up again and this time he folded the laptop closed and directed his attention to the redhead. “I know you’re worried, but there’s only so much you can do. He’ll only get better with time. Honestly, I’m surprised you were even able to convince him to let you that close.” Sephiroth reached over and grabbed Genesis' hand, which was settled on the armrest of the chair. He grabbed it, and held it, squeezing it gently. 

Genesis appreciated the contact. He was overcome with worry still, and he just wanted Seph close to him, but that would have to wait until later. If he was honest with himself, he would be all over the man right now, if it weren’t for their current situation watching Cloud, and still awaiting what would happen after the Senator was out of office. 

He remembered that he had made a note in his mind to call Isabel again and let her know more of what they had discovered. He sighed and moved to get up. “I’m gonna call Isabel, see how she’s doing.” 

Sephiroth nodded and removed his hand as Genesis stood and walked over into the kitchen. Genesis glanced back over his shoulder and had to admire the beauty of his lover one more time. Sephiroth’s curious expression as he reopened the laptop, his long, silky hair, and the way it gleamed in the sunlight, which was now pouring through the windows in the warm afternoon light. Genesis shook his head in silent amazement, he was still having a hard time realizing their relationship was a reality again. He wasn’t going to be alone anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think of the last two chapters in the comments! I love getting advice and ideas for what you would like to read next. <3


	12. A Bitch Named Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud deals with the affects of the drugs he was given. And Genesis and Sephiroth do their best to bring the already delusional Cloud back to real world.

Cloud

He watched as the sanguine water trickled down his body, coloring the swirling stream that circled the drain on the shower floor pink. The hot water burned as it hit his sides, irritating the fresh scabs along his ribcage and the scratches on his back. He rested his weight on his hands, which he had propped up against the decoratively tiled shower wall. He still felt like he was both floating above himself, and sinking down with the heaviness of his limbs. A back and forth sort of rolling feeling that carried him side to side, up and down. He knew that he was finally coming down. One of the reasons he had decided to shower, hoping the warmth of the water and the steam would help ease the transition. He had also desperately wanted to get out of the button down, which he knew had been Reno’s, as Tseng had pulled it out of the dresser in the room he had been locked in. 

He continued to bury the images of the night before, boxing them up and nailing them shut as best he could. Unfortunately afterwards, all that remained was the memories of how pleasurable it had been, causing him to feel a confused sort of anger that only made his cravings increase tenfold. He felt sickened by his own thoughts, as the urge to run back to Reno overcame him. He rationalized as logically as he could that it was probably normal, given how good he had felt just hours before, but the idea of ever desiring the man made him cringe visibly. 

He barely remembered anything after Tseng had dragged him out of bed. He recalled hazy images of sunlight streaming through glass and the feeling of movement under his body as he had been driven from the residence. Then blackness, grey fizzled pictures of shapes moving around him. After he had come round again, he recalled seeing what he had thought was Reno, and had tried to interact with him, but had been pushed away. He didn’t really know what had happened, or why he had been with him again, but he was lucid enough now to write it off as a narcotic induced hallucination. The most recent memory that was the sharpest, was seeing Sephiroth’s face close to him, and feeling arms wrapped around him, he had heard words echoing close to his ears, muffled. Then the oddest part of his strung out bits of recollection, seeing Genesis morph out of Reno’s body as he had sat in a chair in the living room. He realized now, that Reno had probably given him some kind of hallucinogenic as well, he thought back to the ocean of sheets on Reno’s bed, and the canopy of stars that had reached down at him. _Yeah, he must have._

Cloud’s legs shook, and he pressed his back up against the tiles. It looked like the swirling water on the floor beneath him was tornadoing down and taking the floor with it, burrowing like a drill bit into the surface under him. He felt like he was standing on the edge of a slope, a slope that led down to the bottom of the ocean. The tiles on the edge of the floor darkened in color, going from turquoise to dark blue. He realized that the edge of his vision was darkening, and small pin pricks of black were sputtering up from the water below him. He tried to step back from the whirling abyss, but he found that he was backed against the wall already. Nothing seemed solid, everything was slick and soft, and he was finding it harder to keep his footing. He reached out to grab the ledge that held the soaps and shampoos, but his fingers slid across it, making no traction with the almost slimy surface. He realized he wasn’t getting enough oxygen and froze, gulping in air, but all he got was steam and the water that had been dripping down his face. He choked and coughed up the small amount of air that he had inhaled, sputtering a mist of particles across the tiles. He was panicking now, and the slope in front of him was increasing in depth. His vision had now become restricted to a small circle surrounded by blueish black fog. He tried to step over the empty void in front of his toes to the solidity of what appeared to be the edge of the pit, but his heel slid out from under him and he felt himself get dragged down by the pull of the water. The back of his head smacked the tile, and he watched as the blackness around his eyes closed in tightly.

____________

Cloud could feel water spattering against his face, sliding over his lips, it was slightly cold, and he felt his throat muscles gag in response to the water slipping down into his mouth. He coughed and jerked upwards, his freezing limbs spasmed, but remained useless when he tried to urge them to move. He cracked open his eyes, but the water spattered into them, causing a painful dryness which forced them closed again. What he assumed was his head slammed back into the surface beneath him with a loud ring, and his mind swirled with different colors that squiggled around into odd shaped unbidden. He had utterly no idea where he was, and the realization froze him in place. He felt the bile rise in his throat, and he remembered the red of Reno’s hair hovering over him, and the contour of his cynical, angular jaw looming above his face. He panicked and strained to look up through the deluge of water above him. 

Reno was trying to drown him. 

He could make out shouting from somewhere, but still found it impossible to decipher much over the sound of the running water streaming past his ears. He heard a loud banging, and footsteps close to his ears, and a loud whooshing sound. _Shit, he’s right there._ _He really is going to down me._ He gagged again on the water and coughed loudly, as if a lung was going to come up out of his throat. 

He managed to bring a hand up weakly and block some of the water from hitting his face, but soon realized that was unnecessary, as the flow had slowed and then stopped, leaving him gasping for air and coughing at the same time as trying to inhale. He felt something soft and dry cover his body from the waist down, and then the chills set in due to the lack of warmth from the water, and his limb started shaking uncontrollably. He felt himself pulled up from under his arms, and finally felt something solid behind him, and his head rolled back against it and rested there. He was still coughing, but it was now much easier to breathe. _Maybe he’s not going to drown me after all...guess it would’ve been better if he had._

He could feel a smooth cool pressure on his cheek, tapping it gently. He did his best to open his eyes, but they were still burning from the dryness the water had caused. He blinked repeatedly and could see a blurry shape hanging over him, shimmery and grey through the water still collected in the corners of his eyes. _Where am I?_ He was clueless now as to what was going on, and he slouched defeated against the cold surface against his back. _It doesn’t matter anyway._

The cold thing, that he had deduced was probably a hand, was still tapping on his cheek. He could now make out something above the ringing in his ears, though it sounded like it was coming through the static of a television screen, sharp and cool. 

“Cloud, I need you to open your eyes. Nod if you can hear me.” 

He was unsure whether he wanted the owner of the hand to know he was awake, but he didn’t care much anymore. He strained and was able to dip his chin slightly downward. He heard a deep exhale close to his ear, and felt the tapping on his cheek stop. He decided to risk it, and forced his eyes open most of the way. As he blinked in response to the bright light, he was able to decipher the silver haired head of Sephiroth over him, their faces were about a foot apart, his expression was incredibly serious, but he appeared to be very concerned underneath the objective facade. _What is he doing here?_

Sephiroth had his hands resting gently on his still wet shoulders, and he met Cloud’s confused gaze with a sympathetic one. Now that the man knew he was conscious, he had let the seriousness fade a bit, and Cloud could see the warm kindness in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth had turned up encouragingly. He looked strange, but then Cloud realized he was used to seeing him with his glasses on. 

“Deep breaths, Cloud. Do you know where you are?” He asked in a calm, comforting tone. 

Cloud continued to blink away the dryness in his eyes, and finally found he was able to turn his head, though the muscles in his neck protested, and he took in the turquoise and white patterned tiles that lined the shower stall around him. He had a faint recollection of standing in the shower only moments before, and the swirling void that had opened up to meet him. He was beginning to think that may not have existed after all. Then he remembered. Reno had been trying to drown him. 

Electric panic crackled through his veins and he grabbed Sephiroth’s arms, limbs suddenly persuaded into action by the kickstart of adrenaline that rushed through them. He bent his legs up towards his chest, the towel which Sephiroth had thrown over him crinkled against his skin at the movement. 

He swung his head around, covering all directions in a split second. There were shampoo bottles scattered around him on the shower floor. He glanced toward the rest of the bathroom, the teal and floral curtain was pulled aside and he could make out through the residual steam, the fogged mirror, and the clothes stacked on the counter by the sink. 

Cloud shoved Sephiroth’s arms off his shoulders now, and leaned around the edge of the stall to look at the doorway. He grabbed the edge of the tiles behind him and swung his head around the corner, he saw a flash of red hovering close by the door and realized he had been right. They were not safe here.

He grabbed the closest thing in reach, which was a bottle that had fallen from the shower ledge, and whipped it around the corner at the form in the doorway. He heard it clatter to the floor, without making any contact. “You fucker.” He hisses through clenched teeth, reaching for another bottle on the tiles next to him.

Sephiroth grabbed his wrist gently, and took the shampoo from him with his other hand, placing it down on the floor next to where he was kneeling. He placed a calming hand on Cloud’s shoulder again, and met his frenzied gaze seriously. “That’s Genesis. Reno’s not here, Cloud.” He said it very quietly, but the words rang in his ears like bells chiming. 

The memories of waking up in Sephiroth’s living room flooded back to him in seconds, and he choked on air for a moment. Cloud felt his arms and legs shaking, and his breathing accelerated. 

Sephiroth released his wrist and sat back from him on his heels. Cloud realized he was in the shower again, and used his shaking hands to fasten the towel tightly around his waist. He tried to slow his breathing, but it wasn’t working very well. Everything around him still appeared to be morphing like it had been before he passed out. 

_Goddammit Reno._ He massaged his temples with his hand. “Right.” Was all he said in response. 

Sephiroth was watching him with concern. He didn’t appear to believe him. He looked towards the doorway, where Cloud now realized Genesis had been waiting back by. 

“Can Genesis come in? That way you can see who it is?” Sephiroth looked back at Cloud, compassion and understanding in his eyes. He seemed to be making sure he kept plenty of distance between them, so as not to upset the blonde again. 

Cloud inhaled deeply and let it out with a whoosh. This was all too much to handle. Just minutes ago he had been swept into a miniature vortex, been almost drowned, and now he was with Sephiroth in his bathroom, sitting in the shower. He needed to know for sure though. 

“Ok” Was all he was able to get out amidst his panicked breathing. Cloud watched cautiously as someone walked around the corner and knelt down next to Sephiroth, a foot or so back from the shower. Cloud looked up into the concerned face of Genesis. 

Genesis appeared to be incredibly upset, but was doing his best to cover it with a cautious smile, one that almost melted Cloud’s heart with the kindness of it. “Hey.” He said hesitantly. He took in Cloud’s form on the shower floor with worry, then he looked up and met his eyes. “I have to say, this is a helluva lot better than the way I found you last time.” 

Cloud almost laughed in relief. Now that the panic was subsiding he realized just how awful he felt. His head ached and his skin crawled from the beginning of withdrawals. He felt like he was freezing onto the tile beneath him. He tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace as he sat up straight and tried to get enough leverage to stand. “Yeah, definitely better than that.” He replied with a grunt.

Sephiroth stepped up off his heels and grabbed his arm, helping him maneuver out of the shower, Genesis stood up and out of the way, stepping back so he was leaning in the doorway. Cloud made it out of the shower, and let himself be guided to the toilet, sitting down on the lid. The room was still swirling around him, and he noticed that he was weaving from side to side, as if the world was spinning around him. _I’m definitely tripping._

Now that the heroin had worn off, he could tell that the euphoria that had come from it had been smoothing over most of what he had been seeing, making it easier to handle. Now that it was gone, all the pleasantness was gone too, and he just wanted to come the rest of the way down. The shower had definitely helped, even though he had passed out, but he was leery of what else might set him off. 

He looked up at Sephiroth, who was standing next to him, looking down worriedly, and leaning against the counter. He shook his head, trying to loosen the dread rising in his stomach. Usually, when he was alone, he would take something to smooth out the come down. “Reno dosed me, I’m sorry. The world isn’t really normal right now...” He looked past Sephiroth’s tall form and met Genesis gaze. “Could you bring me the prescription from the hospital?” 

Genesis looked frustrated and shook his head. “I don’t think taking something else is a good idea. You’re already out of it.” 

Sephiroth looked back and forth between them, then rested his gaze on Cloud, looking down his nose at him. “The benzos?” 

Cloud nodded and put a hand on the counter to steady himself. He was still leaning side to side with the tilt of the floor, and was now beginning to feel like he might throw up. “Yeah.” He shook his head again, like he was trying to loosen a cobweb from his face that he had walked into. 

Sephiroth turned to Genesis, who was standing with arms crossed in the doorway. “Did you bring them?” He raised an eyebrow at the annoyed looking redhead. 

“Yeah, they’re in my bag. Didn’t know if he’d need them again. Brought them just in case.” Slight anger colored his tone now, he didn’t seem to understand why Sephiroth wasn’t agreeing with him. 

“They’ll kill the rest of the high. He would be given something similar intravenously if he was at the hospital right now.” The silver haired man then knelt down and looked at Cloud’s pupils, which were almost fully dilated. “Christ, Cloud. What all did he give you?”

Genesis had disappeared from the doorway to go retrieve the bottle, Cloud waited for him to leave, then met Sephiroth’s gaze. “Probably a mix of heroin, morphine, and LSD. That’s the way he likes it...and so do I.” Sephiroth nodded, he seemed worried, but not in the least bit judgmental of him. “I asked him for it.” Cloud averted his gaze now, and looked down at the patterns morphing and breathing on the tiled floor. He hadn’t meant to admit that, but it had slipped out. He was so tired of holding it all in. Hiding the fact that all he wanted right now was Reno to walk in and fix this.

A pained look escaped Sephiroth’s collected expression, but he didn’t seem angry. In fact, he looked at Cloud with almost a protective seriousness that was slightly unnerving, “That’s ok. You shouldn’t feel guilty about that. You learned over time that made things less painful.” 

Cloud met his gaze again, and found the understanding in them was a bit too much for him right now. He choked back a sob that he didn’t know would come up out of him, and put an arm over his mouth to conceal it. 

Sephiroth had heard it through, and he held his gaze over the blonde’s arm. His eyes were filled with sadness and kindness mixed together in the swirling green and blue of his irises. Cloud felt his eyes grow hot with emotion, and then he realized that tears were now spilling down his cheeks. He gulped the sobs back, but couldn’t control it. Sephiroth put an arm around Cloud cautiously, and the younger man fell into his shoulder, shuddering silently as the emotions rocked through him in waves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your patience. Much love and thanks. <3


	13. Sparks of Affection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud resurfaces from the haze he has been in, and has a candid discussion with Sephiroth about what he has been through. Sephiroth struggles with his inclinations, and Genesis encourages the bond between them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a pivotal chapter to write, and I had a lot of trouble trying to make things just right. Please let me know your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions in the comments. I could really use some ideas for going forward from here. I have some chapters written for after this, but I'm not sure if I should scrap them and take things a different direction. I am even thinking of rewriting this one depending on how it is received. Much love and thanks to you all for your patience and support!

Sephiroth 

He held Cloud as he cried, almost silently against him. His shoulders heaved back and forth as he gulped in breaths. Having heard a bit more what the situation with Reno had been like, his concern deepened and he was now worried that it might be necessary to get Cloud to a hospital. He was unsure whether or not he was detoxing. If Reno had been giving him narcotics the entire time he was in prison, then this might be more complicated than he had thought. He didn’t feel he was qualified enough to handle the medical aspects of this, if that was the case. 

Genesis turned the corner into the bathroom, and stopped dead when he saw Cloud crying into Sephiroth’s shoulder. He was holding a pill bottle in one hand, and he had on a very disturbed expression. Sephiroth knew Genesis was somewhat awkward emotionally, and he made eye contact with him over his shoulder, making sure not to break physical contact with Cloud. He motioned with his head for Genesis to leave the prescription on the counter, and Genesis silently placed the bottle on the edge next to the far sink. He stepped back into the hallway, and pointed back down the hall with a thumb, soundlessly asking if he should go.

Sephiroth nodded at him, and Genesis disappeared without a word. He knew when he was out of his depth. Sephiroth was familiar enough with Genesis thought process to know he'd rather be left out of this anyway, he wouldn’t be upset with being asked to leave. Cloud was finally starting to slow his breathing down now, and was now slowly pulling back from Sephiroth’s shoulder. He let him go, and watched as Cloud ran a forearm over his face and shook his head back and forth, clearing his throat quietly. He kept his eyes averted, looking at the still slightly fogged mirrors over Sephiroth’s head. 

Cloud stood up, refastening the towel wrapped around his angular hips, and managed to wobbly walk his way around Sephiroth, who was still kneeling in front of him. He leaned his weight against the counter top, pressing his palms into the turquoise edge rimming the farthest sink. He reached forward and wiped a circular area on the mirror clear with a hand. He took in his own reflection with a grimace and sighed. Sephiroth had stood up and was leaning against the counter watching him closely. He was slightly concerned he might pass out again and wanted to stay close to him. Cloud glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t say anything, or protest his presence. The younger man grabbed the prescription bottle and downed six of the pills, leaning down to the sink and gulping a few sips of water directly from the faucet. Sephiroth didn’t object to the number, he knew Cloud was probably capable of knowing what he needed right now. This wasn’t an unfamiliar scenario for him to be in. 

The blonde then swiped the rest of the mirror in front of him mostly clear of fog, and then raised an arm, examining his right side in the reflection. He scrunched up his face in an annoyed expression and growled. “Bastard.” He grumbled through his teeth. Cloud looked over at Sephiroth, and seemed to gauge whether he wanted to say something. He hesitated, then spoke. “Can you help me with these?” Cloud motioned casually at the burns on his ribcage.

Sephiroth nodded. He grabbed a bandage and a canister of disinfectant spray out of the container by his elbow. Cloud looked relieved, in fact, he already appeared to be affected by the medication he had just ingested. Sephiroth knew that they weren’t dispersed in his system yet, but the placebo effect of knowing he was going to feel better soon, had definitely relaxed the blonde. His eyes were calmer, and his breathing was more natural. Sephiroth applied the antiseptic below Cloud’s shakily raised arm nearest him, and then adhered the bandage over the burns. Cloud then spun around and he did the same with the two other groupings of nastily broken skin on the other side. Cloud remained quiet throughout the process, eyes hard and mouth shut by a clenched jaw. Sephiroth discarded the used papers from the bandages and replaced the disinfectant in the plastic container. 

Cloud returned his arm to his side and stared at his reflection again, twisting a bit to look at the patchwork of bandages over his abdomen. He laughed hollowly, then glanced at Sephiroth, the other man’s eyes were heavily lidded now from the effects of the tranquilizers he had swallowed, and he appeared to be quite relaxed now. “Thanks.” He said dreamily. He appeared also to be much more sure of his footing, and stepped back from the mirror, grabbing the green t-shirt Genesis had left for him off the counter and pulling it over his head. 

Sephiroth took that as his cue to leave, and skirted Cloud’s half clothed form as he made his way to the bathroom door. As he was halfway out the door, he felt a hand grip his, and was spun around to face the blonde. Cloud was wearing the shirt now, and seemed a bit less fragile now that his bandaged torso was concealed. He pushed his body up against Sephiroth’s and wrapped his arms around him, looking up at his face. Sephiroth froze, not quite sure if he should pull away or say something. Cloud was looking up at him, and his gorgeous blue orbs peered up at him from under half lidded eyes, giving away the signs that he was now happily medicated. 

The older man stared down at the blonde questioningly, one eyebrow raised slightly upwards. Cloud cocked his head at his expression. “Do you like me?” He asked softly, almost musically. 

Sephiroth blinked in response. He was well aware of why Cloud felt the need to be validated emotionally right now. He was insecure about his own character because of what he had just gone through, and wanted confirmation that he wasn’t a weak or evil person. “You’re not a bad person, Cloud. What happened doesn’t make you less valuable than anyone else.” He pulled back gently from the embrace, but Cloud held him tighter in response, moving backwards with him until the taller man stopped trying to retreat from the bathroom.

Cloud laughed lightly, and smiled hazily, looking up into Sephiroth’s eyes. There was an overtone of flirtatious mischief in them. The older man hesitated, not quite sure what was the best move here. Cloud seemed to enjoy his awkward half smile and hesitation to no end. “No, Seph. I mean, do you _ like  _ me?” He asked again, this time reaching a hand up as he did so, and running his fingers down Sephiroth’s chest softly, still holding the silver haired man’s gaze. 

Sephiroth felt a sensation he couldn’t identify run through his limbs, a tickle in his throat caused him to clear his throat anxiously. Cloud saw the confusion and the light blush that had risen to the peaks of his cheekbones. He smiled happily and took Sephiroth’s silence as an opportunity to speak again. “Because, it's ok if you do. You don’t scare me you know. I trust you.” Cloud placed a hand on the other man’s cheek directing Sephiroth’s eyes down to meet his own, with a gentle pull. His fingers were like ice, and smooth as spring flower petals. 

Sephiroth immediately regretted not taking the chance to have left the bathroom. He couldn’t deny he felt something for the other man, something he had tucked away deep in the back of his mind. But his professional objectivity was screaming at him now to remove himself from the situation, he knew that Cloud was speaking from an emotion that was legitimate, but it was extremely amplified right now because of the medication, and the possible Stockholm symptoms he seemed to be experiencing. He took Cloud’s hand gently, and brought it down from his cheek, doing his best not to act like he was rejecting the younger man, but also not allowing things to go any further. 

“I appreciate your trust in me. I would never want any harm to come to you, that is true. I think it would be wise though, to give you time to think about what you’re really feeling, Cloud.” Sephiroth looked down at the blonde, he appeared to be pondering his words carefully.

Cloud scrunched up his forehead in concentration, but still held Sephiroth’s gaze, eyes bright and curious. “Doesn’t sound like you’re really denying it though.” Cloud’s expression was playful again and he took his hand back from the older man and placed his palm against Sephirth’s chest, resting it there delicately. 

The taller man said nothing to this, not making any other moves to remove Cloud’s hand or pull back again. He was trying to formulate a plan for extracting himself in the most gentle way possible. “Again Cloud, I don’t necessarily think this is the right time for you to be making any hasty decisions regarding romantic feelings. Your mind is not capable of following your thoughts through to conclusion in this state. You’ve just been through a very traumatic experience.”

Cloud huffed and finally looked away. He seemed to ignore the other man’s words, but Sephiroth knew that he had been thrown off by his pointed assessment of his condition. He slowly released his arm from around the silver haired man’s waist and stepped back slightly, turning to look at himself in the mirror and leaning one arm against the counter top. He stared at his reflection for a moment, making a few different faces at himself in the mirror. Then hung his head and looked down at the tiled floor thoughtfully. 

Sephiroth took the opportunity to step back and lean against the door frame. He wasn’t going to leave him alone yet, in case he had upset the blonde too much, but he also wanted to keep a safe distance between them for the time being. Cloud shook his head, then looked up. His eyes were sad and resigned. “Is this how everyone is going to treat me now, like I’m some kind of broken china doll?” 

The older man shook his head. “You’re not broken, you just need time. Things will get better, but you need to recognize that what happened is going to affect your judgment of situations for a while.” Sephiorth said it in the gentlest tone he could muster.

Cloud looked up, and there was a hardness to his expression, the curve of his jaw and the furrowing of his eyebrows indicated the subtle change in his demeanor. “You can just say it, you know. Because you know he raped me, you don’t think I’m capable of knowing who I actually want.” He gritted his teeth at his own harsh words, but continued. “But you’re wrong. I need something, anything, right now that’s real. I want to wash what happened away with something that actually matters. I could never mistake you or Genesis for the kind of person Reno is. It’s not even in the same category. Reno takes what he wants and leaves the rest. But both of you take me as a whole, and avoid the piece of me he’s touched. I want to feel complete again, I need to know that I can. Yeah, I’m high, but I’m not so out of it that I don’t know what’s good for me. And I definitely know you aren’t bad. And honestly, to me, that’s all that matters.” 

Cloud sighed defeatedly, and then without hesitation dropped the towel and changed into the jeans, now damp with steam, that had been setting on the counter. He appeared collected and aloof, ignoring Sephiroth’s presence still in the doorway. He watched as Cloud transferred the smashed pack of cigarettes from the pocket of the other pair of pants deftly. The older man didn’t react physically, but Cloud’s words hit him hard. He was surprised at the lucidity of the thoughts Cloud had just expressed. He wasn’t in denial of what had happened. In fact, he almost seemed to have accepted it. He ruminated that perhaps the longevity of his situation with Reno had allowed him the time over the years to process his experiences, more so than he could have had it been a one time occurance. Usually it took patients in his profession years to be able to know what they actually wanted out of relationships after suffering trauma of that kind. But Cloud seemed like he was ready to put it away, not bury it, but acknowledge it and move on. 

Sephiroth was shaken from his thoughts by Cloud flipping the bathroom lights off and sidestepping around him to walk out into the hallway. He seemed to be done with their conversation and wanted to indicate he was through discussing the matter. Sephiroth stepped aside and followed slowly behind the blonde, who was now walking quite steadily down the hall in front of him. The younger man shook out his mess of locks and a thin mist of water droplets flew from his head. Sephiroth felt a few droplets make contact with his skin. 

As they entered the living room, the silver haired doctor noticed Genesis lounging on one of the couches, he was reading something that he must have packed in his bag. He laughed internally that the redhead, even amidst the chaos of their departure from his home, had managed to remember something to read. Though in all honesty, he wasn’t necessarily that surprised. Cloud had walked jauntily into the room, still shaking the excess wetness from his hair, and had plopped down in the chair next to the sofa Genesis was stretched out on. He leaned over curiously and tried to distinguish the name of the novel with a small smile. Genesis glanced over at him, seeing the blonde was smiling, he took his legs down off the armrest of the couch and turned the binding of the book towards Cloud, so he could read the title. The redhead’s face had on a crooked grin, and he looked pleased to see that Cloud was feeling so much better. 

“A rather poignant love story. I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic, as Seph would say at least.” He somehow smiled even bigger, and handed the book to Cloud, who took it carefully, and began perusing the summary on the back of the book’s cover. 

Cloud looked up after a few moments and laughed. “Dear god, you really are hopeless. What a load of cheesy bullshit, Gen.” He smirked and elbowed Genesis across the space between their seats, to which Genesis feigned hurt at and placed his hand over his heart, while snatching the book back from the blonde. 

“Hey, I may be a bit jaded, but I’ve got a soft heart.” He mused reproachfully. Then he leaned back into the couch and crossed one leg over the other, sifting through the pages to his previous spot. He started to read again, then hesitated and looked up, he seemed almost shy now. “You wanna, keep me company?” He gestured over to the empty space next to him on the couch. 

Cloud smiled at him, and laughed again. “Well, yeah.” He replied, sarcastically amused by Genesis hesitation. He hopped up and resettled on the couch, making himself comfortable leaning on the redhead without a hint of concern. 

Sephiroth felt a pang of jealousy run through him, but immediately reprimanded himself. They were both happy, and that’s all he wanted. This instinctual possessiveness was proving a nuisance to him. He tried to smile, but it came out more like a smirk. Then he walked over to the armchair next to Genesis and seated himself, grabbing his laptop as he did so. He remembered after a moment, that he should finish what he had been doing.

When they had arrived back at the house, he had found there was a message back from Yuffie’s manager. She had apparently been convinced enough by his message to her last night to speak over the phone, and had requested his number so she could call him later today. He had sent his number without any hesitation, and now there was another message in his email from the same address. He opened it quickly, and found that in it, she had asked if she could call him at one, which was only about fifteen minutes from now. She must be anxious to speak with him regarding Cloud, and Reno. 

He looked up from the screen in his lap, and glanced over at the two contented faces of Cloud and Genesis. They both seemed perfectly happy to remain as they were. He smiled genuinely now, and found that after a bit, the jealous feeling he had earlier had melted away. But it had left something else in its place. A need, an urge, to be included. He wanted nothing more in this moment, then to sit himself on the couch next to Cloud and be accepted by the two. Was it a stretch to think that they might actually want that too? He was conflicted. He had been impressed by Cloud’s words not moments before, and the younger man seemed to harbour a genuine attraction to him. But he was very much on the fence if he should actually accept his words at face value. Sephiroth knew that it was dangerous to engage Cloud physically in any way right now, and he was honestly incredibly concerned about accidentally hurting him more. Though he could also see the other man’s point, that being tiptoed around was insulting and almost demeaning. He had long ago buried the possibility of any kind of professional relationship with Cloud, but still, crossing that line was something he was very hesitant to do. 

Sephiroth watched them, curiosity and confliction written across his face blatantly. Cloud looked over at him from under Genesis arm, which was draped loosely over his torso. He read the expression on Sephiroth’s face like an open book. He smiled slightly, then placed a hand on the couch next to him and raised his eyebrows, cocking his head to the side. “Well? You coming over or not?” Cloud laughed at his surprised reaction and wide eyes with a small laugh.

Genesis looked up over the cover of his book and eyed Sephiroth with an inquisitive smirk. He surveyed Cloud’s welcoming expression, glancing between the two other men, and seeming to have confirmed that Cloud wanted both of them near, he made up his mind to also urge the psychiatrist over. Genesis gestured with his head next to them. “Yeah Seph, what’re you doing over there anyway?”

The silver haired man was very confused, and just looked between the two of them, staring with open mouth and raised eyebrows. He wasn’t sure what he had missed, he felt like there was a critical piece of information he had misplaced. They seemed so natural and relaxed, it seemed to come so easily to them, the closeness and openness. Sephiorth had never been the best at taking hints, at least not when it came to his own relationships. He could psychoanalyze anyone with the flip of a mental switch, a switch that was too often left on, but he seemed always to miss the cues that were directed at him almost completely. Genesis had pointed it out to him on multiple occasions in the past.

He hesitated for a minute or so, trying to analyze the situation more, but gave up quickly. His logical mind was being overruled by the need for inclusion. He would debate this in his head endlessly if it was left up to him. But knowing that Genesis wanted him was enough to eventually convince him to forgo his lingering reservations regarding his intentions with Cloud. The evolution of the relationship between them was moving forward, with or without his blessing. And he knew that deep in the recesses of his mind, he wanted to be along for the ride, wherever it took them. 

Cloud and Genesis looked so perfect together though, he was afraid of ruining their peace with his awkward presence. He felt that for once, he was at a loss for words. “Ok...?” was all he could manage in response. He folded the laptop and placed it on the coffee table very slowly. Then stood up as casually as he could, and walked over to the other couch.

Sephiroth slowly lowered himself down onto the furniture, trying to give Cloud’s legs room, but the blonde rotated his body so that his legs were now stretched over Genesis lap, and draped his upper body over the silver haired man’s legs. Cloud then pulled at Sephiroth’s arm and wrapped it around him gently. Genesis made no indication that their role reversal upset him in the slightest, and had wrapped up Cloud’s legs with his free arm, while continuing to flip through the pages of his novel absentmindedly. 

Cloud looked up from his lap as Sephiroth eyed him stiffly. The blonde laughed giddily. “Don’t look so confused, Seph.” 

Sephiroth snapped his still open mouth closed, trying to conceal his obvious awkwardness with an odd smile. “I suppose not. My apologies...I’m a little out of my depth.” 

Genesis and Cloud looked at him and exchanged a glance with one another. For some reason, they both seemed to have communicated with each other through eyes alone at his words, and they laughed in unison now. Genesis more so than Cloud, he had to cover his mouth with a hand. After a moment of nearly tear inducing gasping, the redhead turned back to Sephiroth. “I always did say you were somewhat inept when it comes to your own emotions.” He broke into barely controlled laughter again, and then quieted after a few moments, this time wiping a tear from his eye after. The redhead snorted and cleared his throat, returning to his book with a heavy sigh.

Sephiroth looked down at Cloud, the younger man was shaking with laughter, but was doing his best to contain the audible sounds of it. He looked up at Sephiroth after a few sounds managed to escape his hand, reading the confusion still on the silver haired man’s face. He reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, the sounds coming from him subsiding. “Did I upset you? I’m sorry. It's just that I don’t know how else to spell it out to you. You’re so beautiful, and intelligent, and kind, Seph. And all I’ve wanted since I first met you, was to be held like this. I understood then why Genesis had been so completely taken with you.” 

Genesis glanced over at them now, watching them curiously. He didn’t seem jealous, he looked intently excited. Like he was watching a movie he had yet to see the end of. Sephiroth stared down at Cloud, whose hand still caressed his cheek. “No. I’m not upset.” 

He reached down and brought Cloud’s chin up so that their eyes were staring directly at each other. Cloud had some of the most enchanting eyes, like blue fire that swirled in a strong wind. The other man’s breath caught at his touch, and his face glowed with contentment. Then Cloud stretched up towards him, closing the distance between them. He brought a hand up and around Sephiroth's neck and pulled him closer. They were now only inches away, and the doctor hesitated, not wanting to be the one to make the final leap. Cloud seemed to understand, and in an instant he reached up the rest of the way and met Sephiroth’s lips with his own. 

Now that he knew how much Cloud wanted this, and that Genesis approved, Sephiroth finally let go of control. He gave into the magnetic draw he had felt from when he was across the room, and when Cloud was wrapped around him in the bathroom. Cloud grabbed his hair gently in a fist and pulled him even more so into their embrace. Sephiroth was surprised that Cloud was already pushing his tongue into his mouth pleadingly, and after pausing a moment, he let him in with a sigh. They pulled and tugged at each other's clothes, Cloud twisting around so that he was almost all of the way in the other man’s lap. The kiss was electric, and the silver haired man found that he couldn’t stop now that he had started. He wrapped his arms around Cloud and pulled him even closer, The kiss was filled with all his desire to give protection, comfort, and healing to the other. Even with his eyes shut in pleasure, Sephiroth still managed to avoid the bandaged areas on Cloud’s sides and chest, fingers barely cradling the smaller man’s torso. Complete and utter care and gentleness emanate from the embrace. When a had accidentally grazed the sensitive skin at the nape of Cloud’s neck, which the other man shuddered at and then latched onto Seohiroth’s lower lip in a soft playful pull. 

Cloud was now wrapping his arms around his neck, and Sephiroth deepened the kiss, cradling the blonde’s head in his arms. They twisted around each other’s bodies for a few more moments, then the momentum slowled and they just held each other quietly. The taller man rested his forehead against Cloud’s and breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of soap and shampoo from the other man’s hair. 

Cloud let him, and melted into his torso, then reached his mouth next to his ear and sighed, making Sephiroth’s hair stand up on his arms. Then he whispered into it. “Thank you.” He said, ever so quietly, then brought his lips down to the taller man’s cheek and kissed it gently, still holding onto his neck with his lithe arms. 

The silver haired man relaxed at his words. Cloud seemed to understand that he needed to be reassured that what they had exchanged words about was still valid. That Cloud needed this closeness desperately right now. Sephiroth nodded against Cloud’s cheek, then brought his lips down to embrace the younger man once more. This time, the kiss was long and soft, lingering on both their senses like the remnants of a dream that was just too good to be true. Finally, they pulled apart, and Cloud settled his body in Sephiorth’s lap. Sprawling out across both he and Genesis’ legs, eyes closed and content expression on his face. Genesis was still watching them, and Sephiroth glanced over at him, searching for his approval again. 

The redhead was still pleased, and he seemed slightly aroused by their interactions even, a blissful smile on his face and a smirk to go along with it. He then winked at Sephiroth, and turned back to his book, feigning aloofness at the goings on. This was all quite a lot for him to process, but he didn’t release his hold on Cloud, who was resting his head on the silver haired man’s chest, the top of his head resting against Sephiroth’s chin. He inhaled the scent of his hair and hugged him closer. The protectiveness he was developing for Cloud was incredibly powerful, he didn’t want to move, he felt like he would stay like this all day if it was up to him. With everything that had just happened, all he wanted was to comfort him, but he was reminded by the more reasonable side of his mind, that there were still a great many things to be dealt with.

The phone in his pocket began to vibrate, as if on cue, and he resituated himself so he could use a hand to pull it free. He hesitated to answer, given his positioning to Cloud, but just sighed and flipped it open anyway, taking the call. The blonde looked up at him, his eyes shone brightly, the cool azure was almost murky now, warmer even. Sephiroth eyed him carefully, meeting his gaze as he spoke. “Yes?”

A voice echoed sharply on the other end of the line. “This is Yuffie. Is now a bad time? I’m sorry, your message sounded urgent....is Cloud alright?”

Sephiroth took in her anxious tone and waited a moment before responding. Trying to decide how much information he should reveal. “Yes. He’s ok, he’s with me now.”

He heard a deep pent up breath exhaled, rustling through the speaker loudly. “Good. Reno is everything you had asked about. He’s an egocentric, narcissistic, abusive piece of shit. I tried to convince Cloud to leave him for years after the incident with him, but he stopped answering my calls, and we eventually stopped talking all together.” She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “I miss him so much, I hope he’s found some semblance of a normal life with you, that’s all I ever wanted for him.” 

“I think that after what happened, he’s willing to acknowledge that now.” Sephiroth replied. he felt guilty now for having worried her, but when he had sent the message, he hadn’t known if they would be able to retrieve Cloud. He was taking her call out of politeness, but overall wanted to skim over any details and save her the stress of knowing any more about their current situation. 

Cloud had curled up against him, and had been listening to their conversation, he didn’t look up or meet Sephiroth’s eyes, but he had tensed up his muscles and was gripping Sephiorth’s arm tightly in response to Yuffie’s voice. He fussed around to get more comfortable, then finally looked up to meet the older man’s gaze. He could see the hurt reflected in his eyes and the indecision. “Let me talk to her, Seph.” He said after a few more minutes of hesitation, reaching up to take the phone from Sephiorth’s hand.

Sephiorth let him take the phone down from his ear and press it against his own. The blonde then gently slipped away from him and resettled on the middle cushion of the couch, bringing his legs down carefully from Genesis’ lap. “Hey girl, how’re you?” 

Sephiroth allowed Cloud to slide off of him, though he immediately regretted the loss of his warmth on top of him and his head against his chest. He leaned back against the couch, listening intently to their conversation. Cloud was nodding his head now in response to Yuffie’s reply. The blonde looked sideways at him and then Genesis, knowing they were listening, there was not really anything to distract them from his words. 

“Yeah, I know...no...yeah. Did he really say that? Damn. I’m sorry, hun. I know...I’m sorry...yeah I’m fine. I  _ know _ , Yuffie. You don’t have to rub it in my face...no...it’s alright, I get it.” Cloud glanced back at Sephiroth, he didn’t seem angry, but he did appear slightly resentful. He obviously didn’t want to be having this conversation right now. “Ok...I’m gonna get some rest ok. Bastard really did a number on me this time. Yeah, I will. I know you do...bye, babe.” Cloud took the phone down from his ear and hung up the call. He leaned down and hung his head between his knees and ran his fingers through his almost dry hair.

Sephiroth scooted over to him, carefully extracting the phone from his outstretched hand, and placed it lightly on the coffee table. “I’m sorry, I got in touch with her before we knew anything. I did some research online and that’s how I found her name and her contact information. She specifically asked if she could call me today.” 

Cloud nodded and shook his head. “It’s ok. I’m not mad at you. If you hadn’t been able to find me, she would’ve been able to help.” He sighed and leaned back into the couch, scrunching up his eyes in a pained expression and staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. “How did you guys know where I was?” He turned and glanced between Sephiroth and Genesis questioningly.

Sephiroth sighed and met his gaze. “We followed them, we made it to the house, but there was a lot of security, so we decided to formulate a plan. Genesis recognized Tseng’s face from an old article, they used to work together, and he contacted him to see if he knew anything. It turned out that Shinra had been working on a case regarding Reno’s father for years, and today the Senator is stepping down from his position. Tseng implied that Rufus and possibly Reno are going to be arrested after the ceremony. In fact…” Sephiorth looked over at the clock on the wall. “It’s taking place as we speak.” He watched Cloud’s expression as he had absorbed the information, he appeared quite calm, in fact, he appeared relieved. 

The blonde exhaled heavily. “Thank the gods. I wasn't sure how you were planning on avoiding the cops after what you pulled. This is  _ actually  _ the end. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around it, but they’re finally going to get theirs. Fuck…” He closed his eyes and his breathing sped up slightly. Cloud rubbed his forehead then stood. “Be right back.” He walked around the table, then made his way down the hallway, still shaking his head in disbelief. 

Genesis glanced at Sephiroth confused, then shrugged. “Who was that anyway?” He waited for the older man to reply, placing the book he had been holding face down on his knee.

“Yuffie?” Genesis shook his head, still confused. “The girl who Reno was with that accused him of assaulting her, from the article, remember?” He raised an eyebrow at the redhead.

“Oh, shit.” Genesis nodded now in recognition. “Is he ok? That’s a lot to process, on top of everything else...” He appeared to be very concerned about Cloud, his face an open book of worry.

Sephiroth shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ll go check on him.” He stood quickly and made his way down the hall, steps echoing hollowly on the wood panels beneath his shoes as he stepped off the cushiony carpeting of the living room. He strode quickly to the bathroom, the door was open, and he cautiously peered around the corner. Cloud was leaning up against the counter, pouring a few of the small blue pills into his hand from the bottle they had left in the room earlier. He turned and saw Sephiorth in the doorway, which he gave a small smile at, and shrugged.

Sephiroth took that as an invitation and stepped into the bathroom, leaning his weight back against the small sliver of wall next to the doorframe, and putting his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. He watched as Cloud shakily doled the pills out onto his palm, six of them again, and then ducked down to sip from the faucet after swallowing them nonchalantly. Sephiroth made no move to stop him. He knew that right now the side effects of the substances he had been given were hitting him hard, and he also knew that speaking with Yuffie was bound to have affected him, at the very least giving him anxiety. 

“You ok?” He asked quietly. He didn’t want to come off as confrontational, and he felt guilty for having been so distracted with Cloud’s lips that he forgot to warn him about Yuffie’s call ahead of time. He looked down at his feet, examining the scuffed edges of the black boots.

Cloud looked up at him, then stared back at his reflection in the mirror. “Yeah. I just...she told me years ago that Reno was dangerous, but I didn’t listen to her. He wasn’t so bad at first. We...loved each other. And he gave me everything I wanted. The drugs, the sex, and he took me all over the world with him. I didn’t want to leave that life. He’s the one who encouraged me to write the only book I ever had published. It just all feels hollow now.” He looked down now, his arms shook slightly, as he had propped himself up against the counter. 

“You had a book published?” He asked in amazement. He didn’t know anything of this side of Cloud. He knew he was intelligent, but he had never heard anything about this from Genesis.

“Yeah, it's weird, Genesis read it, it's one of the things that brought us close. I saw it at his house.” He blushed slightly and shook his head. 

Sephiroth laughed. “That’s impressive, Cloud. I have to admit.” He smiled and walked up behind the blonde. He pulled Cloud into his chest and wrapped his arms around him, pulling his shoulder into his upper body gently, and placing his cheek against the other man’s. Cloud relaxed into him, and Sephiroth could feel him shaking slightly, which only made him hold the blonde closer. “Just because he changed, doesn’t mean the memories of how he was before can’t still have meaning.” 

Cloud nodded and held onto Sephiroth’s arms gently, some of the shaking had subsided, but he still seemed to be pondering things that the silver haired man could only guess at. He looked at their reflection in the mirror. Cloud’s beautiful, angular face, and his own, above it. His silver mane draped over Cloud’s shoulders, enveloping him in a snow white shower of locks. Cloud’s expression had changed with his words, and he smiled at the taller man’s face in the mirror. “How do you always know what to say?” 

“It's a learned trait.” He said without thinking. Genesis had asked him the same question many times. He smiled at the memories that rose to the surface in his mind. 

Cloud gave him a half smile and turned his head sideways, looking over his shoulder into Sephiroth’s eyes. They shone with something he hadn’t been expecting. Gratitude. Sephiroth knew that he hadn’t been shown a lot of kindness in his life, and that he probably hadn’t expected the words he had blurted out in frustration earlier to have had an affect on their relationship. But Sephiroth had listened. And he had chosen to give Cloud what he had so very plainly asked of him. He hadn’t wanted either Genesis or Sephiroth to act as if they needed to skirt around him, just because of what he had been through. He had wanted some kind of genuine connection to anchor him in reality and give him hope. And Sephiroth had understood him loud and clear. He wanted to be that connection for Cloud. He of all people could comprehend why the younger man needed something to fill the void that Reno had left. The void created by both the hurt and the love he had experienced at one point from the other man. Cloud wasn’t just saying goodbye to the pain associated with Reno, he was bidding farewell to the affection he had once received from him. The remnants of a life he was having to leave behind, and all the opportunities and bedevilments that were rolled into it.

Cloud reached his head up and met Sephiroth’s lips with his own, and spun around as he did so, rotating in the taller man’s arms. They kissed gently, Sephiroth cradling the blonde’s head in one of his hands, the other resting on the small of Cloud’s back. Sephiroth couldn’t help himself from having become instantly addicted to the younger man’s presence. He felt utterly consumed in this moment with him. His scent, his touch, his smile. And the utterly beautiful strength he possessed. He found himself smiling into the kiss, a steady beat of euphoria was pumping through his veins. But the most powerful and utterly visceral feeling he found himself enraptured by, was the need to protect this person in his arms. At the root of it all, was the need to shield this being from the world around them that had so viciously tried to remove him from the kindness of others and the understanding he so desperately deserved. Sephiroth found that no amount of physical closeness would ever be able to convey the rising need in his gut to play guardian for this man. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have another chapter already typed up, but would really appreciate some feedback to let me know if you guys like the direction this is heading in. 
> 
> ***********THERE IS A LOT OF DRAMA COMING UP SO ENJOY THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM!*******************
> 
> Many thanks to you all for your patience, I appreciate you all so much <3


	14. The Trials of Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis get closer and begin to open up to one another. Cloud is anxious to learn more about his rescuers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to say "fuck it" and post this next one, if there are any grammatical errors or issues you notice, feel free to let me know in the comments, any input would be most appreciated! Thank You!

Sephiroth was amazed at how fluid and natural Cloud’s movements were. He seemed to be unhindered by his recent brush with death, as well as the horrible experience he had just endured. If anything, it seemed to fuel his urgency, as if he was possessed by the need to fill the void created by the abuse he had suffered. Sephiroth knew that he still needed to tread carefully, he would not fool himself into thinking that the phantoms of the past would not rear their heads at some point. But for now Cloud had them under control, and the younger man was quite passionately dedicating himself to mastering them. 

They continued to embrace for a bit longer, then Cloud slowly lowered his hand from Sephiorth’s chest, which was where it had migrated. Sephiroth took the cue, and lowered his own hands from up around Cloud’s waist gently, taking his time to commit these moments to memory he did so. Sephiroth sighed as Cloud broke the kiss and stepped back a pace so that he was no longer pressing the other man up against the counter. But he didn’t go far, he grabbed onto the taller man’s shirt and pushed his head into his chest, which Sephiroth took as a sign that he wanted to be held, and wrapped his arms softly around the younger man. He held him there, his face pressed into the blonde’s hair. 

Cloud sighed into his chest happily. “...thank you…” He mumbled huskily into the silver haired man’s shirt. 

Sephiroth looked down at him, and Cloud pulled back, meeting his gaze with a pleased expression. “You don’t have to thank me, you know. It’s not as if I mind, I enjoyed that just as much as you.” 

The younger man smiled up at him and released his hold finally, stepping back and shaking his head like he had been caught in the rain, exhaling with a huff. “Yeah, true, habit I suppose, sorry.” He laughed now though, and straightened his shirt. “Hm...suppose Gen will be wondering if something’s wrong.” He walked towards the doorway and looked around the corner, laughing very quietly. 

The sound made Sephiroth's heart hurt. It was incredibly pleasing to hear Cloud happiness audibly, especially in such contrast to how emotionally bereft he had been not that long ago. To know that  _ he _ could do that for the other man, was a powerful realization. “True.” He replied shortly, his feelings for Cloud were running wild right now, and he was having a hard time putting a cap on them, even after their satisfying exchange not moments ago had been plenty to wrap his mind around for the time being. He looked at the other man and hesitated, getting his attention with a small raise of his hand. 

Cloud stopped himself before walking out the doorway as he took in Sephiroth’s now serious expression. “What’s wrong, you ok?” He asked, looking concerned.

“Are you going to be able to handle the withdrawals, Cloud? Those are only going to help so much, and for so long….” He gestured at the prescription on the counter. “If you were using while in prison, then you’re not in for an easy ride. I know this is the last thing you want to think about, but do you think you can handle this without medical assistance?”

Cloud’s grimaced. “I don’t know, honestly. But I’m not going back to the hospital. I was planning on maybe, well...getting enough to coast my way down.” He watched as Sephiorth frowned and rubbed his temples at his words, clearly displeased with his solution. “Hey, don’t judge my methods, I’ve done it before this way. I know it's not the way you’d prefer, but it's only worse in the hospital. I just want to be somewhere I feel safe. It’s gonna be bad enough as is, but dealing with doctors, no offense, only makes it ten times worse.” 

Sephiroth nodded and pondered his words. He could understand why Cloud didn’t want to go to the hospital, but he had to at least have tried. He didn’t like the idea of him taking more, but he also didn’t see another way to do this safely without it either. “Ok, you can make your own decisions, I’m not going to try and dictate the way you should live. If you think you can handle it, I believe you.” 

He found that this conversation had brought something to the surface for him, and realized that his hands were shaking. Drugs had ruined his mother’s life, and his childhood. But his hatred of his parents and their lifestyle, had been enough motivation to keep his own recreational use of certain things to a minimum. Sometimes though, he had cravings, and thinking about it all so intently now, was giving him some of the strongest he had felt in years. He didn’t know if it was seeing Cloud so high, envying it, or if it was just the stress of knowing he had just started something with Cloud, that he wasn’t sure he was ready for. 

When he and Genesis had been together, he had turned a blind eye to his choices at the redhead’s request for a while. But that was before he had realized Genesis was addicted to a very dangerous and life threatening substance. Sephiroth had always been high functioning, and had only ever imbibed in less lethal things, he smoked sometimes, on very rare occasions, but it was nothing close to an obliterating addiction. When he had convinced Genesis to give up using, he had changed his life as well, to allow for them to be closer to each other. He had never expected Genesis to be in his life again, and realized he hadn’t thought about what that might mean for certain aspects of his life. Even though he was an incredibly well respected profession in his field, that didn’t mean that he didn’t deal with his own mental battles on a daily basis. And right now he was going through a tedious mental battle with his own subconscious. Maybe he had been leaning on these things more heavily than he had thought. 

“Seph, hey what’s wrong?” Cloud had moved to stand in front of him, and was watching him closely. The blonde looked down at Sephiroth’s hands, which were noticeably shaking. Cloud gently grabbed his hand and held it, rubbing his thumb over the top of it gently.

“I’m fine.” He looked up and gave Cloud a half hearted smile, to which the younger man responded in kind, though he seemed not to believe him. “Go ahead, I’ll be out in a minute.”

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows at his request in confusion, but nodded. He let go of Sephiorth’s hand and stepped over to the door. “Ok, sure.” He walked out and closed the door silently behind him.

Sephiorth stepped over to the sink as Cloud shut the door, and pulled open the cabinet behind the closest mirror. He pulled out a bottle that was almost identical to the one that Cloud had been given at the hospital. The dosage was higher and the colors different, but the name of the medication was the same. He stood there for a moment, despising himself for his weakness. He was incredibly anxious, and he wasn’t sure if it was everything that was happening with Cloud, or maybe getting back together with Genesis. He didn’t care, all he knew was that he was pretty worked up over it all. He didn’t want Cloud to see this weakness in him right now, especially when he needed someone to be his anchor, someone to be stable for him. He desperately wanted to fulfill that need for the younger man, and he was not about to let his jittering nerves get in the way. He grabbed one of his shaking hands with the other, stilling its movement with a deathgrip that hurt his own wrist.

At that moment the door opened back up, and Cloud strode back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him quietly. Sephiroth swung around and started slightly.  _ Goddammit.  _ Cloud turned to face him, looking at Sephiroth with a guarded expression. “What’s wrong, Seph? You don’t look like you’re ok right now. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to leave you alone if you’re upset. You’ve been there for me, I can be for you too, you know.” 

This was not how he had wanted to have this conversation. Showing affection was one thing, sharing well kept secrets another, and revealing vulnerability very different. And he had an intense aversion to the last one. He prided himself on his calmness and collected presence, it made him good at his job. He viewed this aspect of himself as an unacceptable weakness that he just had to treat like any other symptom a patient reported to him. “I’m fine.” He clipped back at the younger man, annoyed at having been accosted by him in such a way.

Cloud only stared back at him, not appearing annoyed by his tone, but now more effectively fixated on whatever he had interrupted the other man doing. He glanced at Sephiroth’s hands, and cocked his head. “You don’t look it. What’s that?” 

Sephiroth paused for an unusual amount of time, contemplating how best to assuage the younger man’s interest in his actions. But after a moment's contemplation, he realized there was not much point in coming up with an excuse or diversion, the damage was already done. He held out the bottle to Cloud, who took it from him with raised eyebrows, inspecting the label. “Same thing. Yeah, I’m not surprised you have anxiety, your job is pretty stressful. I don’t understand, why do you think you have to hide it?” 

Sephiroth sighed and looked at the ground. He leaned against the counter and shrugged. “When you’re the one that’s supposed to have all the answers, instability of any kind isn’t exactly something you want to advertise.”

Cloud looked up at him from the label and met his gaze. He grabbed his hand again, golding it tightly. “I don’t think that’s a crime. It’s not ruining your life, you're doing pretty well for yourself. What’s really going through your head right now, you can tell me, you know. What is this really about?” He set the bottle down and continued to keep hold of his hand. 

Sephiroth was annoyed now, he wanted to push Cloud out of the bathroom and lock the door behind him, but it wouldn’t change the situation much, and it would only push Cloud away in the process. He grunted and turned to examine himself in the mirror. “I feel like a hypocrite, here I am trying to tell you how to live your life. I stopped everything when I found out that Gen was shooting up, and I did, until we split up. I never expected he would be in my life again, much less both of you.” He held Cloud’s hand tightly, trying to distract himself with the pressure.

“Well, we are. And I for one am not judging you. And I don’t think Genesis would be either. This is hardly the same as being addicted to heroin. And from what I can tell, you seem to actually be anxious as fuck right now. It’s not like you're just popping these for fun, that’s not addiction. Is it something I did, or said? I’m sorry if so. If you need to, just take something, and don’t guilt yourself for needing it. I think maybe you're overthinking a little bit.” Cloud’s words comforted him, but the voice in the back of his mind was still insulting him viciously. 

_ You’re just like your mother. Just like her. You even made him feel bad for you, just like she does with you.  _ He shook his head, trying to silence the echoes in his own subconscious. “No, you didn’t say anything, I promise. This is my own doing. It’s difficult sometimes, because I can sort of psychoanalyze myself. This has everything to do with me not wanting to become my mother. I know deep down that I’m not, but every time I get worked up and need to take something for it, I assume that I’m right on the way to becoming exactly like her. Her and my father.” He snorted and laughed at his own thoughts.

Cloud didn’t laugh though, and he looked at Sephiroth carefully, absorbing what he had said. “Your parents were addicts?” 

Sephiroth nodded, and averted his eyes. He felt ridiculous for having revealed that, and for involving Cloud in his inner guilt trip of himself. He shook his head at himself and turned towards the sink. He let go of Cloud’s hand and grabbed two of the pills quickly from the bottle which he had taken back from the other rman, then replaced the prescription in the cabinet. He downed them and turned back to Cloud, erecting a smiling facade over his features. He was done with this bullshit, feeling sorry for himself. Cloud had on a confused and slightly sad expression when he glanced at him where he was standing by the door. “Sorry.” He said curtly, and moved past Cloud to stand by the door. 

Cloud stepped in front of him and gently placed a hand on his chest. “Hold on.” He looked up and met Sephiroth’s eyes. “Two things. You don’t have to hide your anxiety from me, or Genesis for that matter, at least from who I know him to be. You’re human, you have emotions too, and I don’t ever want you to feel like you have to hide that from me, ever. Second, you’re not an addict like your parents. Whatever that voice in your mind is telling you right now, don’t listen to it.” He sighed and grabbed the door handle, bringing his hand down from Sephiroth’s chest slowly.

Sephiroth nodded, though the words really hadn’t reached him, he was still on edge. But he knew he wouldn’t be as much so soon. He decided just to forget about it. He was done thinking about it. Cloud opened the door, and they walked down the hall. 

Genesis

He turned to the next page in the novel he was holding absentmindedly, the paper rustled in a satisfying crinkle. He had always been able to bury his emotions in the pages of a decent book, and he had to admit he was impressed with this book so far. He was surprised with the level of detail, and he definitely didn’t mind the rather graphic sex scnees portrayed in it either. He almost laughed out loud at his own perversion, but managed to hold it in. He was beginning to wonder what Cloud and Sephiroth were up to. They had been taking a rather long time, and despite himself, he was getting slightly jealous, not really in an envious way, he had been extremely pleased when Sephiroth had finally given in to Cloud’s magnetism, and it had excited him. Blatantly showing that kind of intense affection was, for Seph, almost unfathomable. He wasn’t sure what had happened in the bathroom between them after he had left earlier, but it must have really opened Sephiroth’s mind. 

He was very happy for both of them. He could tell that Cloud was greatly comforted by the protective energy and calm that Sephiroth could offer, and he knew that the silver haired man deeply craved an outlet for expressing those aspects of his nature. But he still wanted to be included. He didn’t know what this meant for their relationship, or where this was taking them. But if there’s one thing he had learned, it was not to worry too much about the future, and just take things one second at a time. He was happy now, and that’s all that mattered. He wasn’t angry with Cloud for taking Sephiroth’s attention away from him, he was joyful that the rather repressed man had gotten back in touch with his emotions, and it was a great sign for Cloud to have shown him affection. He wasn’t sure what had been said between them, but he knew that whatever interaction they had earlier alone, had an immense effect on the way they viewed one another. 

He heard footsteps down the hallway, and looked up from his book to see them both making their way into the living room. They both seemed relatively relaxed, and that was enough for him. As long as neither of them was upset, he was satisfied. “Well look who decided to rejoin the party. You guys ok?” He asked with a smirk. He took in the rather messed silver hair on Sephiroth’s shoulders and the blonde’s hair that was sticking up in all different directions. They had definitely been messing around a bit, which he was fine with. 

Cloud slumped down onto the couch across from him, he grabbed the cup of now cold coffee that Sephiorth had placed in front of him earlier and took a couple gulps of it, wrinkling his nose at the temperature, but not letting it deter him from finishing the rest of the cup. He set the mug down after he had drained it, then coughed and looked up at Genesis. His blue eyes were hazy and he had on a content smile, he must be feeling pretty good. He leaned back into the couch, pulling his legs up on the sofa and stretching out. 

Not bothering to answer, Cloud instead asked, “How’s your book?” He leaned his head back into the armrest, folding his arms back behind his head. He didn’t seem to even feel the injuries that Genesis had bandaged earlier. 

“Eh, it’s not bad. The sex scenes are decent though, graphic as fuck. Makes up for the lacking plot line.” He snorted and put the book down on the table, eyeing Sephiroth as he sat down on the couch next to him. He appeared to be worried, his eyebrows scrunched up and lips pursed in a narrow line. 

Sephiorth leaned back into the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table, rather unlike him, he was usually a bit more anal about his furniture. Genesis raised an eyebrow at him, but chose not to comment. He looked between the two of them, then shrugged. He stood and made his way over to the kitchen. He walked around the island and over to the coffee maker in the corner on the counter. He poured himself a cup, then brought the hot, black coffee back with him into the living room, and plopped back down next to Sephiroth. He put down the mug on the table, then scooted over so that he was shoulder to shoulder with the taller man. Sephiroth got the hint, and wrapped his arm around him, pulling him into his side. Genesis noticed though, that his hands were shaking. He frowned and glanced at his expression. As he expected, there was no indication of any negative emotion on his face, nor any emotion for that matter. He worried about him sometimes. The man was so dedicated to his work, and the care of his patients, that he often forgot to take care of himself. 

Genesis knew though, that asking questions wouldn’t do any good, he had learned that years ago. So instead he simply took Sephiroth’s hand and leaned into him, subtly trying his best to comfort him with his touch. Sephiorth seemed to understand, and wrapped a hand around his neck, pulling him into his chest, kissing the top of his head gently, his face lingering in his red hair, breathing in his scent. Genesis was so happy for his touch, it was almost instantly soothing, and any concern he had over not being included disappeared. He leaned into the other man and pulled his arms around his torso, kissing him gently on the cheek as he did so.

Sephiroth looked down at him, and a small smile spread across his lips. He seemed pleased with their closeness. “Get a little lonely out here, did you?” He smirked at the redhead casually. Seohiroth could tell that he was making up for lost time.

“Well, yeah, a litte.” Was his only response to the questioning eyes above him. He pushed further into the silver haired man’s embrace, causing a small laugh to escape Sephiroth, he seemed genuinely happier now. Genesis had long ago learned that the best way to comfort the other man, was to ask for comfort himself. Sephiroth had a hard time expressing his own needs, and he was always concerned with seeming needy. But feeling like he was needed by others always helped abate those fears, so Genesis had taken to asking for attention in order to give him a feeling of usefulness. It wasn’t how he'd prefer to be there for his lover, but it was what Sephiroth responded to, so he’d gotten used to it over time.

Cloud was watching them with a smile, he seemed quite content though to sprawl out on the other couch alone. He almost looked like he might fall asleep. But after a bit, he sat up and seemed to shake off the feeling. He looked over at them and grabbed his cup off the table. “Do you mind if I get some more coffee?” He asked Sephiroth.

“Of course not, go ahead. I made breakfast too, if you want some, it's on the stove.” Genesis had long ago forgotten the plate he had made earlier, which Sephiroth had distracted him from by pulling him into a heartfelt expression of his affections. Genesis was still wrapping his mind around that, it had been quite an intimate display for Sephiroth, the events of the past few days must have really forced him to make up his mind on his true feelings for the redhead. 

Cloud nodded and walked up around there entangled forms on the couch, his footsteps receding into the kitchen. Genesis looked up at the older man, he still seemed to be pondering something thoughtfully. “Seph, you seem preoccupied, what’s on your mind?” He hesitated, then more quietly added, “You can always talk to me, you know that right?” He had said this many times in the past, but it never really seemed to have much effect.

Sephiroth nodded and looked down at him. “Of course I know that.” He huffed out, slightly annoyed with Genesis’ attention, then he sighed and slouched back onto the couch. “I’m worried about Cloud.” He said quietly. “He told me that he’s going to try and wean himself off, he doesn’t want to go to the hospital. But I’m worried that this is all going to catch up with him at some point. I know that everything he’s been displaying towards us is genuine, but he’s not going to be able to keep this up forever. He needs rest, but given his character, he’s probably going to push himself until he can’t hold it together any longer, and that means he’s going to have a meltdown at some point. I’ve seen it many times. It hasn’t registered to him yet, he thinks he’s over it, just because Reno is out of his life now.” 

Genesis took in his words carefully. He knew that Cloud was acting oddly composed, but he had hoped that maybe it was actually going to stay that way, he knew better, but had been putting the issue aside as best he could. He knew that whatever Sephiroth had observed would probably prove true, he was always right when it came to reading other people’s emotions. He realized that the other man was most likely struggling with guilt over having engaged with Cloud the way he had, given how much he was able to understand Cloud’s mindset right now. “You’re probably right, but you can’t force anything, he’s going to process things in his own way. You’re the one that taught me that. And don’t guilt yourself over showing him affection, he wanted that just as much as you.” 

Sephiroth nodded, though Genesis knew he didn’t believe him. He could only sway the older man’s thoughts so much, he was rather set in his ways. It would take him a while to become comfortable with Cloud being involved in his life this way, without ascribing guilt to himself because of it. Genesis looked away from Sephiroth as Cloud walked back into the room, carrying another full cup of coffee, which he sipped on as he walked. He appeared to be quite content, a small smile on his face. The blonde sat down on the couch across from them, and placed his now half empty cup down on the table gently. 

“Thanks for the coffee. You went all out with breakfast, Seph. I’m sorry, just not hungry yet.” He reached down and took another sip from the blue mug, then leaned back and sprawled out over the sofa as he had been before. He looked over at them, then added, “Is there any way to check if….Rufus was arrested yet?” He looked at the two men sideways now, averting his gaze, trying not to show how important the information obviously was to him. He had been making a fine show so far or appearing disinterested in the topic, but they both knew better.

Sephiroth looked pointedly at the young man across from them, studying his reactions, then answered carefully. “I should be able to check online, I’ll look.” He gently extracted an arm from the redhead’s grip, and pulled the laptop onto his knees from where it had been resting on the table in front of them. 

Genesis watched him type, feeling the movement through the small jostling of the silver haired man’s arms, which were still laid across his chest. Eventually he stopped, clicked the keypad a few times, then sighed heavily. The older man hesitated, then spoke. “Well, he’s no longer a Senator, but nothing so far related to an arrest. It may take some time for any information to be public, if it just happened.” The taller man turned to look at Cloud, who had been sitting on the edge of the couch, transfixed, waiting for Sephiroth to relay him the news. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep checking.” 

Sephiroth now turned and looked down at Genesis, staring down his nose at him. He had replaced his glasses a bit ago, and now he peered through them thoughtfully at the redhead. “Do you think Tseng would give you any more information?”

Genesis extracted himself from Sephitoth’s arms carefully, then sat himself on the edge of the couch, leaning forward towards Cloud. “Possibly, I can try.” He stood and pulled out his phone, typing in Tseng’s number. He had always memorized numbers, given that for a long time he could never leave any contact information in his phone, since he was usually operating undercover. He placed the phone to his ear and waited.

It rang a few times, then a voice answered him. “Yeah?” He hesitated a moment, then finally responded.

“Hey, it's me. Do you know when they plan on making the arrest?” He decided to get straight to the point, Tseng would prefer that anyway.

“Tonight. I need to go, I’ll call you after they do.” The phone hung up quickly.

Genesis nodded to himself and returned the phone to his pocket with a shrug. He turned back to the two men and gave a half hearted smile. “He said later tonight. He'll call me after.”

Cloud seemed like he was about to say something, he opened his mouth, but very slowly closed it again. He was still perched on the edge of the couch, and his expression had grown dark, his eyebrows furrowed and his face downcast. Genesis walked over and sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around him. Cloud leaned into him, hiding his face against the redhead’s chest. 

“Hey, it’s gonna be ok. Tseng wouldn’t lie to me, I promise. And we’ve got you, you’re safe here now.” He looked down at Cloud, but he was still laying against his chest, unmoving. He just sighed and rubbed the younger man's back in comforting circles. He looked up at Sephiroth, who had replaced his laptop on the table, and was now sitting back, staring across the room thoughtfully. 

Cloud finally moved against him, but it was only to push into him more, encouraging Genesis to wrap his arms around him tightly. “I can’t get him out of my head.” He growled into Genesis chest and shook his head, trying to deny the memories from taking over his thoughts, or least that was what Genesis assumed. He had always done something similar when overcome with unpleasant images in his mind. As if he could somehow jerk himself out of the reveries. 

“Shh...I know, I’m here.” Genesis wasn’t necessarily familiar with comforting someone, as Sephiroth rarely gave him the chance, but he was a quick learner, and Cloud brought out his protective side. He wanted to make it clear he would be safe with him, that he would never let him out of his sight again. He held Cloud close to him, he could smell the fresh scent of his clean hair under his nose, and he buried his face in the blonde’s hair, hugging him as he leaned them back against the couch back, still rubbing his back gently. 

Genesis looked back up after a few moments to glance at Sephiroth, but in the time he had been occupied with Cloud, the man had made his way over to the kitchen, and was rummaging around in the cabinet above the sink. He could hear him muttering, a few choice expletives, from what he was able to discern this far away. He continued to hold Cloud, while watching the silver haired man curiously. Sephiroth finally settled on something in the cabinet and withdrew it with a huff. It appeared to be a large bottle, he was confused because it looked like alcohol. Sephiroth had never been a big drinker, but as he walked back towards them, Genesis discovered it was indeed a large bottle of gin. He raised his eyebrows at the older man, but chose to wait for him to speak first. 

Sephiroth had grabbed three glasses out of the cabinet as well, and now smacked them down on the table with a clatter. He smirked at Genesis, and then plopped down on the opposite couch. Cloud had heard the loud clanking of the glasses, and extracted his head from Genesis arms with a curious expression on his face. He cocked his head sideways at Sephirth, who took in his expression with what sounded like a genuine laugh. 

“We’re going to celebrate Cloud’s return, and the demise of that disgrace of a man properly. What do you say?” His eyes glinted as he met Genesis confused gaze, he was in some kind of mood, but it was hard to tell exactly what kind. He was familiar with this mode that Sephiroth occasionally adopted, an almost manic mixture that usually exposed itself in times of stress. Even though Sephiorth did a fairly good job of concealing his emotional processes from others, he had never truly been able to conceal them from Genesis. And Genesis had chosen not to expressly point out his observations, he tried to allow the doctor to feel he was unreadable, as it helped Sephiroth’s confidence and eased his nerves. The last thing a psychiatrist wanted, was someone singling out their behaviors and picking them apart in front of them. 

Cloud didn’t seem to care, he shot up out of Genesis arms and grinned. “I like the way you think.” He said with a smirk at Sephiroth. He sounded grateful, and all traces of sadness that had dripped from his voice a bit ago had dissipated altogether. Maybe this was why Sephiroth had suggested it. A way to focus on the positives and distract them while they waited for more news from Tseng. 

Genesis wasn’t really sure what the silver haired man was playing at, but if it got a smile out of Cloud, he was all in. “Alright then.” He leaned back, resting his arms behind his back on the couch. He could do with a drink anyway.

Sephiroth leaned forward and unscrewed the cap off the bottle, he poured a few shots into one of the glasses, and handed it to Cloud. Then repeated the same action two more times, for Genesis and then himself. Finally he leaned back and raised his glass. “Cloud.” He said solemnly, then took a sip of his drink, looking pointedly at the blonde as he did so. Both Genesis and Cloud followed suit. The gin was nasty, even Genesis, who was rather used to straight liquor, was slightly off put by the musky burn of the liquid as it made its way down his throat. But he made no verbal comment on the matter.

Cloud coughed, but laughed at Sephiroth stoic demeanor. “Thanks, Seph.” He said, a rosy glow to his pale cheeks, and a smile on his face. “I needed that.” 

Genesis looked sideways at Cloud, who was sitting shoulder to shoulder with him, but chose not to comment. Sephiroth seemed to have found the perfect way to keep the younger man occupied. The redhead didn’t approve of his methods necessarily, but he also couldn’t really argue them. It seemed to be working, and that’s all he cared about. He downed the rest of the liquor in his glass, which smelled of old shoes, and then went to pour himself another. He could already feel the warm buzz through his limbs, igniting an unusual joy in his subconscious. The events of the past few days had been unpredictable and depressing, it felt nice to drown some of those sorrows away. Maybe this wasn’t just for Cloud, perhaps Sephiroth had been in a similar mindset. 

The silver haired man refilled all of their glasses, then leaned back and sipped his thoughtfully. “I think it’s good to focus on the positives of our situation. You’re safe, and all of us seem to have discovered a fondness for each other, that otherwise might never have been found. In my opinion, that’s worth celebrating.” He scoffed at his own words then and gave a crooked smile. “Plus, I really needed a drink.” 

Cloud laughed at him and almost choked on his next sip, he coughed raggedly, then when he regained the air in his lungs spoke up. “Same.” He smiled now. “And I think it’s worth celebrating as well, I mean hell, I just got out of prison, and I didn’t die. It’s about time I appreciate the things that turned out ok.” He jostled Genesis with his shoulder. “Right?” He had a crooked grin, that only served to bring a laugh out of the redhead.

He raised his hands in surrender, his tumbler in one hand. “Ok, ok! You both make a good argument.” They seemed to have noticed his reservations at the rather early chosen happy hour. He finally laughed along with them, bringing smiles to their faces. The alcohol was pushing away the remainder of his mental barriers quickly, and he dropped the rest of the arguments he had been rehearsing in his head.

Sephiroth seemed to have noticed his hesitation more than Cloud, and was observing him closely over the rim of his glass. But he seemed satisfied with Genesis' response now, and finished his drink with a lighter expression across his face. He put his glass back down, refilled his own and Cloud’s then leaned back into the couch, resting his arms atop the back of the piece of furniture, he seemed much more relaxed than Genesis had seen him in some time.

Cloud pushed under Genesis’ arm again, situating himself so that his upper body rested in his lap. He looked between the two men, “So, I want to know more about my rescuers, what on earth do you do for fun? I know you read cheesy novels Gen, and Seph is a great cook. But that barely scratches the surface. Where did you grow up? What were your childhoods like?” he hesitated and glanced at Sephirth, but continued, picking up the pace. “Why did you join the military? Why did you become a psychiatrist?” He swiveled his head between the two of them curiously.

Genesis found his interest in them to be beautifully endearing, he hugged him to his chest with his free arm and looked down at the blonde. Cloud was trying to strike up a conversation that didn’t involve Reno, or prison, or him, for that matter. And Genesis could understand why. He would go along with it. It made sense anyways, they would need to get to know each other better anyway, since their relationship was rather confusing at best. “Whoa, ok, that’s a lot of questions in one sentence.” 

He patted Cloud on the head soothingly, but Cloud shook off his hand and laughed. “C’mon, you gotta give me something. I barely know anything about either of you. And I’m dying to know more.” He looked up at Genesis, pouting and playful all at the same time. 

Sephiroth chimed in now, he seemed to also understand what Cloud was doing, and seemed happy to indulge him. “I grew up in Nibelheim. And I became A psychiatrist after I left the military, mostly so they would pay for my education. I didn’t grow up with much, my parents were never really around, my aunt took me in when I was a teenager. But she didn’t have much either. You already know my parents were addicts.” He glanced at Genesis, then continued. “What else do you want to know?”

Cloud hesitated and looked up at Genesis. The redhead felt a wave of confusion wash through him. He knew that Sephiroth’s parents were abusive assholes, but the silver haired man had never told him they were addicts. And just gleaning that amount of information from him had been hard enough. It had only slipped out once, whe they had both been incredibly drunk. He tried to wrap his mind around why the older man had kept that from him. Then it dawned on him. Sephiroth hadn’t wanted to place any more guilt on him when he had been in the deepest part of his addiction. He hadn’t wanted to make Genesis feel unwanted or unloved, to worry that he would be bundled in with Sephitoth’s parents. That struck a chord in him, and he met Sephiroth’s gaze. The other man avoided his eyes, and took another sip from his glass. He felt sadness wash through him. All this time, Seph had concealed that from him. They had never really talked in depth about their childhoods, and Genesis always more so than Sephiroth. But that was because Sephiroth had pulled the information out of him when he had been his patient, in an attempt to build a rapport between them and give the redhead more insight into his own character. He would have to inquire more about this at a later time, but for now, he decided to let it go. 

Cloud looked between them, confused by their silent exchange, but continued on unabashedly. “Why the military though, besides them paying for your degree. Why a psychiatrist?” 

Sephiroth lay back on the couch with a sigh. “Ah, well, Genesis knows that one. Though I do sort of regret ever admitting it, since he takes every opportunity to tease me. I did both because I wanted to help people. Provide others with some of the care I never had as a child. Or so my own psychiatrist would tell me.” He laughed now at his own self examination. 

Sephiroth looked at Cloud, who smiled at him. “I knew that was the reason. You’re so considerate of others, almost painfully so. But it sounds so adorable when you have to say it. I can see why Gen teases you.” Cloud smirked and looked up at the redhead, he nuzzled his arm with his head in a display of affection that made Genesis blush. He couldn’t help it with Cloud, the blonde was cuteness incarnate. He decided that was Cloud’s new mental nickname, one he would keep secretly for himself.

Cloud looked up at Genesis, his expression revealing the fondness he had just displayed for the other man. “How bout you?” He nudged him with his elbow encouragingly. 

Genesis sighed heavily in mock frustration, though it was dramatic and obviously not genuine. He really didn't feel like sharing about his past right now, but for Cloud, he would try to summarize as best he could. “Eh...well.” He coughed, then continued. “I moved around a lot as a kid, my family never really settled anywhere. I had a sister and a brother, who I’ve already told you about. My dad left when we were little, and my mom was an alcoholic, she had a hard time looking after us, but she did her best, at least for a while. Eventually she left too, no idea where. I took care of us after that. It’s why I enlisted, but Noctis left a little after that, then Tifa got pregnant with her first kid, and she left too.” 

He had chosen to look at the wall instead of Cloud as he spoke, finally he risked a glance down at the younger man, and he had a sad expression, though he seemed pleased to learn more about the redhead. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard to deal with all alone” He said gently and wrapped his arms around Genesis’ middle. He at first flinched at the affection, but then relaxed into it and appreciated the comfort Cloud was trying to show him. It seemed to come so effortlessly to the younger man. He and Sephiroth were much more reserved, and he reflected again that if Cloud had not come around, they probably would’ve never found each other again, and even if they had, they more than likely would have never been able to express their feelings. Cloud was the crux of their relationship reforming, without him, none of this would be a reality.

He sighed and held Cloud back, arms encircling him gently. He took such care with Cloud, he and Sephiroth had never been unkind to one another, but they were rough in bed and most of the time resisted the urge to be overtly intimate with one another, both of them having a bit of an aversion to openness or vulnerability. Their relationship was always more that of partners in crime rather than lovers. Cloud brought out a side of him he barely recognized having, let alone utilizing. “It’s all good. Tifa is happy, and I had to let go of Noctis. It was time.” He said into Cloud’s unruly mess of hair under his chin. The smell of the blonde was intoxicating, and he drank it in. He realized that it was actually extremely comforting, it felt like...home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am almost out of previously written material, so I will be diving back into this fic over the next two weeks to continue more of the main plotline. Buckle up for some more drama and action after the next few chapters! Hope you guys have been enjoying this lull and bonding time for our main trio! 
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!! <3


	15. Play The Tape Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud opens up a bit about his past, but things are cut short quickly when the withdraws finally set in. Some very serious decisions have to be made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are ready for some more sad Cloud, as well as the appearance of his seductive alter ego and the beginnings of some more angsty suffering for our favorite blondie boi.  
> (Side note: I need serious help LOL)

Sephiroth

Sephiroth had watched their exchange quietly. He already knew all of the information Genesis had just shared about himself. Ever since Sephiroth had helped him recover years ago. Genesis reflected a bit resentfully, that Sephiroth had never really allowed him in much. He knew him intimately, but most details of his past he kept hidden away. He didn’t want to think about the past obviously, and that was enough, Genesis could understand that mentality, he had to accept that. Sephiroth was the kind of man who did everything in his own time, and Genesis knew better than to push him.

Genesis let Cloud cling to him for a while, and they all relaxed silently together for a few minutes. Then the redhead decided to see if he could flip things a bit. He hesitated, then decided on a relatively benign line of questioning. “What was life like for you when you were younger?” 

Cloud looked up at him, blue eyes staring into Genesis’ soul. “I was adopted. My birth mother knew my mom because she was a social worker. She offered to adopt me from her, she was only sixteen when she had me. I had an older brother who was adopted as well, his name was Zack. Life was good, my dad was a sociology professor, and he and my mom did pretty well for themselves. But they passed away when I was a teenager, car crash. Zack...couldn’t handle it, he had a lot of problems...he killed himself after they died. I have a sister, she was my adopted parents' actual daughter, the one I told you about. After they died, they left everything to Zack and I, she hated us for it. I got my degree after Zack passed, and I met Reno in college. After that, my life pretty much revolved around him.” The younger man had spouted all the information out very quickly, and he paused now. Genesis could see that he was now teary eyed, and he immediately regretted his question, this was supposed to be distracting Cloud, not upsetting him. _Fuck, now I’ve done it._

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I shouldn't have asked.” Cloud just curled up into him, and nodded. Genesis held him, not daring to look at Sephiroth, who was probably annoyed with him for upsetting the younger man.

Cloud took his head away from Genesis' chest after a bit and looked up to him, a broken but genuine smile on his face. He hadn’t cried, but he looked like he had just taken a punch to his gut. “The Reno thing just is what it is. I miss Zack, he always knew what to say. He could always find a way to make me laugh. He was everything to me for a long time.”

Genesis nodded, and left it alone. He didn’t want to say anything that might upset him more, but he did continue to keep his arm wrapped around the blonde, but Cloud righted himself so that he was sitting next to the redhead. The younger man poured himself another drink, and then looked sideways at him. His posture conveyed that he wanted to prove he was unaffected by what he had just revealed, but he was avoiding direct eye contact with Genesis. Cloud looked over to Sephiroth, who was calmly musing over whatever thoughts were going through his mind, he seemed distracted. 

“What was Zack like?” The silver haired man asked quietly, he looked up and met Cloud’s gaze. Genesis was taken aback, he figured Sephiroth would skate around the topic and let it drop. He wasn’t sure what the other man was getting at, but he didn’t say anything. Maybe there was some purpose to what he was asking. With Sephiroth, there usually was.

Cloud looked up with a rueful expression on his face. “He was perfect in every way, there was a fatalistic beauty to him. He had a way with words, could weave the most wonderful stories, he used to tell me tales of fantastic realms that only existed in his imagination. He used to write them and read out loud to me. He inspired me to be a writer, especially after...he passed, I needed to do something to make him proud. I loved him, in my own way, and he loved me back...if you get what I mean. I still worry that maybe it was one of the reasons why he...did what he did. I think he felt guilty about us. But I’ll never know.” He muttered the last few sentences, and his voice cracked at the end, and now the tears did come, and he turned away from them to collect himself.

Genesis looked at Sephiroth, frustrated by his line of questioning that had brought the blonde to tears. Sephiroth’s expression was full of empathy and compassion though, and he stood quickly and walked over to Cloud. He sat next to him and surprised Genesis by taking him in his arms without any pretense, Cloud melted into without hesitation. “You’ve never told anyone else that, have you?”

Cloud could be seen shaking his head into the silver haired man’s shoulder. The redhead heard a sob escape the younger man’s lips, and Sephirith just stroked his hair gently with his free hand and held him. Genesis was beginning to realize that Sephiroth had somehow already guessed there was more to the Zack story. The psychiatrist seemed to be conducting some kind of strange therapy session, aided by the alcohol. Genesis was at first slightly enraged, he felt that this situation was unfair to the blonde, given everything that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at Sephiroth through slitted eyes. This was not the time to be conducting experimental treatment, and definitely not with someone that was never going to be an official patient anyways. His insides constricted and his anger simmered in the pit of his stomach, aided by the burn of the liquor he had just consumed. This was not information he felt Cloud should have to reveal to them. And this was also not the first time he had seen Sephiroth push the boundaries of someone he was close with. He knew that it came from a place of wanting to help the other person find solace and validation, but he felt Cloud had been through enough already today. 

Cloud came up for air after a few moments and leaned back onto the sofa slowly, he ran his forearm over his face and exhaled loudly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you that, it's kinda fucked up, I know.” 

Sephiroth remained seated next to Cloud, and now he turned to him and he had on a curious expression. “You shouldn't feel guilty. You two weren’t related by blood. It was a perfectly normal attraction to have. I’m sincerely sorry for your loss, Cloud.” He put an arm around the younger man, and Cloud moved leaned against his side, having regained control of himself again, at least it appeared so.

“I guess you’re right. I’ve never really thought about it that way. Thanks. It feels good to tell someone actually, I’ve been carrying that one around for a long time…still I’m sorry for falling apart like that.” He hugged Sephiroth affectionately, avoiding both their gazes by burying his head in the older man’s chest again. 

Genesis’s anger began to subside with his words, he was still annoyed with Sephiroth, but maybe he had just been trying to help, in his own strange way. The man had a problem with always analyzing everyone, even his friends and lovers. Before Genesis, he had never been able to hold a relationship together for more than a month. Most people got too annoyed with his insight into their emotions and behaviors and just up and left. But Genesis had appreciated it, he needed someone who could read his mind, he was too closed off to others to be able to form connections in a more normal way. And Cloud didn’t appear to mind either, he seemed to have appreciated every observation that Sephiroth had made and how easily he was able understand his emotions. 

Sephiroth shook his head now at Cloud’s words, “Don’t apologize. You don’t have to hide your emotions from either of us.” He gently reached down with a hand and pulled Cloud’s chin up to meet his eyes. The blonde looked up at him silently, Genesis could tell they were having a silent exchange of understanding, but from the angle he was sitting at, he couldn’t read Cloud’s expression. 

“Thank you.” He heard the younger man whisper after a few moments. Cloud then leaned back into the couch, he was shoulder to shoulder with both Genesis and Sephiroth now. He leaned forward and retrieved his glass from the coffee table and took a sip, grimacing as he tasted the gin. 

Eventually he looked over at Genesis, and gave him a small smile, but it didn’t last long. “Are you ok?” He asked, and concern coated the words. “I’m sorry if what I said upset you.” 

Genesis realized that his posture and eyes still held residual anger from his frustration at Sephiroth’s prodding. “No, not at all, sorry, was thinking about something else entirely. Are you sure you’re ok, Cloud?” He made a conscious effort to relax his arms down from across his chest, and take on a more accepting expression. “I’m gonna smoke, you wanna come?” 

Cloud nodded. “Yeah, sure.” He finished the remainder of the liquor in his glass, then set it down quietly on the table. He pulled the smashed pack of cigarettes out of the back pocket of his jeans with some effort, then stood to follow Genesis outside.

The redhead stood and made his way over to the back doors. The sun was now hidden behind the clouds, and the bright rays of sunlight had ceased steaming through the glass. He realized that his jacket was still outside on the patio from earlier. Lucky for him, if they had waited much longer, it may have gotten rained on. The sky was a brooding grey, and now that he was paying attention, he could hear the slight rumble of thunder. He pulled open the closest door and made his way outside. A small gust of wind hit the side of his face as he walked through the doorway, and he could smell the rain in the air.

Cloud followed close behind him, they walked to the edge of the patio in silence, absorbing the dark sky above them and the quickening of the wind at their backs. The younger man fished a cigarette out of his deformed soft pack, then began turning circles trying to find a protected enough position to spark it up. Genesis came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, curling his fingers around the other man’s in an attempt to block the wind. Which Cloud grunted in thanks at, cigarette in his mouth preventing actual words. Eventually he was able to light the end of the square successfully. Genesis lowered his arms and turned back to his jacket. He put in on quickly, urged on by the coming rain, then pulled his own pack out. He motioned at Cloud, seeing if he would lend him the lit cigarette to spark his own, and the younger man obliged. Once it was lit, he returned the borrowed square and they both stood next to one another, smoking quietly.

Genesis looked sideways at the younger man. His expression was blank, he stared up into the sky, watching the grey clouds roll by over their heads in anticipatory silence. “You alright?” He asked Cloud softly.

“Yeah.” He looked down at his feet now, taking a pull off the cigarette and exhaling a particularly thick wave of smoke. “I just feel disgusting. I told Seph this already...but I just want to make the most of the here and now. Something to push everything else in my thoughts aside.” He turned and met the redhead’s eyes, his were dark in the cloudy light that filtered through the heavy layer of vapors above them. Then in an instant, he was pushing up against Genesis, His arms around the taller man’s shoulders and chest pressed up against him. 

Genesis felt his cold lips move around his own, and he felt his body responding instinctively, grabbing the younger man and pulling him in. He held the hand with the lit cigarette at arms length from them, away from Cloud’s body as best he could, and drank in the taste of tobacco and gin. Cloud’s hand pressed into the small of his back seductively, and the blonde nipped at his lower lip passionately. He felt a deep sigh escape him inadvertently at the contact. “Cloud…” He managed to get out. “Are you sure this is...what you really want right now?” He gasped through the kiss.

Cloud only pulled the redhead into his tall form more forcefully in response. “Yes...I’m sure.” Was all he mumbled into his mouth. He saw sparks sprinkle the ground in his peripheral vision as the blonde gave up on keeping a hold of his cigarette. The younger man’s other hand, that was now free, came up and cupped the back of his head, bringing it down further into the embrace. He was breathing heavily, obviously aroused by their exchange.

Genesis heard himself growl now, and the sound reached his ears as if he wasn’t the one making it. He tossed his cigarette to the ground as well, and now grabbed Cloud’s lower back roughly and pulled his hips into his own. The feeling of the other man’s entire body flush with his own was intoxicating. He heard a small whimper come from Cloud’s mouth, and he swallowed the sound with his mouth, drinking in the pleasure of having pleased the blonde that much with his touch. 

The thunder from earlier came back in full force now, and he felt the wind pick up and push their tangled limbs into each other. After a few more minutes of wrapping themselves together and playfully enticing one another, the rain started to fall, and they pulled apart in unison. Genesis laughed and bent over, catching his breath. “C’mon you little firecracker, let’s go inside.” 

Cloud grinned evilly and laughed in response to the nickname, also catching his breath. He held a hand up to shield his head from the rain, then darted towards the door, with Genesis in tow. The redhead had pulled up the collar of his jacket to protect his face from the rain as best he could as they ran towards the sliding doors. The sound of the water droplets pounding against the concrete of the patio became heavier, and they both slid through the partially cracked door quickly. Genesis climbed through the doorway, pulling the door shut with a thud behind him. He couldn't help but laugh at their antics gustily. He and Cloud stood by the door, bent over and gasping to regain their breath in between laughter. 

Sephiroth was laying across one of the couches, glass in hand, he looked over at them with raised eyebrows. “What am I going to do with the both of you?” He took a sip from his glass and made a face, a mix of amusement and despair at the quality of the liquid in. “What in god's name were you doing out there?” He looked between them curiously, but made no attempt to get up, he seemed quite content to remain sprawled across the sofa. He took in the flushed cheeks of both men inquisitively, then laughed. “Ah, I think I can surmise.” He rolled his eyes uncharacteristically in their direction.

Cloud, finally having caught his breath, sauntered over to Sephiroth and looked down at him, arms crossed. “Aw, are you jealous, hm?” His shirt was peppered with small circular spots from the rain they had run through, and his hair was damp, giving his imposing stance a humorous appearance. 

Sephiroth pulled himself up to a seated position and set his glass down with an unceremonious clank on the table. “Hm...no, but I missed you both.” He looked up at Cloud with a smirk on his face. He was being quite unusually emotive.

Cloud grabbed his hand and pulled it up to his shoulder, resting the taller man’s hand there. Then he surprised the silver haired man, as was obvious by his wide eyes and raised eyebrows, by kneeling over his lap, legs straddling him. He rested back onto his calves and wrapped his arms around Sephiroth’s head, looking down at him with a smile. “Can’t have you feeling left out.”

Sephiroth’s mouth was now open, and he seemed to have absolutely no idea how to react to Cloud’s advances, he certainly hadn’t been expecting that. Genesis was surprised as well, it seemed to be a pretty big leap for Cloud to be taking. He hung up his coat on the rack next to the doors, and walked over to them, seating himself on the opposite couch. Neither of them had moved, Cloud was still staring down at the silver haired man with a sly smile on his face, and Sephiroth had an almost shocked expression. His arms were up towards the younger man, but he hadn’t moved to touch him. 

“Cloud...I’m not sure that’s necessary.” He said in the calmest tone, giving away nothing. He seemed to know that responding in quick denial to Cloud’s advances might not be wise.

Cloud looked down at Sephiroth for a few moments, Genesis couldn’t see his expression, but his shoulders slumped and he slowly moved off of the taller man’s legs and seated himself next to him on the couch. He leaned forward with a groan and ran his fingers through his mess of blonde hair. He grabbed his glass and poured himself a few shots and drank the liquor down in one sip. He placed the glass down loudly on the table in front of himself.

“Dammit I already told you how I feel about this Seph, I thought you understood.” He sighed now and leaned back into the couch. “I’m sorry, I just want to feel something, anything else than this feeling that he left me with. I’m over it, I want to move on.” He looked at Sephiroth, who had removed his glasses and was rubbing his temples tiredly. 

The older man shook his head. “I do understand, but I also know that if you push yourself too far right now, this soon. You’re either going to regret it immediately, or halfway through you're going to realize it isn’t what you want.” He looked over at Cloud seriously. “Look at me.” Cloud hesitated, then turned and met his gaze, he seemed much less sure of himself than he had been only a few seconds before, now that he was being forced to acknowledge the silver haired man’s words. Sephiroth continued once he had his attention. “Think it through, play the tape forward. Think about what you’re trying to start...are you really ready for that?” His eyes were piercing, and his tone level, but held an edge that Genesis found slightly off-putting. 

Cloud appeared as though he had planned on responding, but he only shook his head a few times, then he spun away from Sephiroth and put his head in his hands, which had started trembling slightly. “No…” He finally muttered shakily.

Sephiroth sighed, he seemed saddened with having been forced to push Cloud away, but Genesis could tell that what he had said had been necessary. It was probably best to keep things simple right now, there was no way of predicting how the blonde would feel later, or how he was going to handle the withdrawals he was probably starting to experience. Genesis tried to get Cloud's attention, he wanted to take away any of the anxiety he was probably feeling from the rejection he had just experienced. 

“Hey, you wanna come sit with me?” He asked gently. The redhead had found that he was much more adept with being sensitive than he had previously thought before he had met Cloud. He had always considered himself a rather cold and unfeeling individual. It seemed less and less like he had been right about that, the more time he spent around the younger man.

Cloud didn’t say anything, but he stood and skirted the coffee table to come sit next to Genesis, he pulled his feet up and laid his head in the redhead's lap without speaking. Genesis was finally able to see his face, and he looked devoid of emotion, his features blankly staring back up at him. Genesis ran his fingers through the blonde’s hair, not saying anything, but comforting him silently as best he could. It was going to be a long day, and probably an even longer night.

Cloud

He stared up into the ceiling, examining the imperfections in the paint and the slight bumps and curves of the pale white expanse above him. He did his best not to catch Genesis' gaze in the corner of his field of vision. His ears still rang with the words that Sephiroth had spoken. He at first had been angry and resentful of being pushed aside. But now he was beginning to register the motivation behind the words, and why the older man had made such a point of getting their meaning across. It hadn’t been to spite him, or embarass him, it had been to remind him of where he was, why he was even in this situation, and what had just taken place. 

Cloud knew that if he was honest with himself, and he did “play the tape forward,” as Sephiroth had suggested, then he was definitely not ready for that kind of intimacy. Visions of Reno last night flitted through his mind, bitter and broken fragments of things his conscience would never be able to let go of. If it was up to him, he would erase his memory of the last three years, hell, maybe even the last five. If he thought about it, not much had happened in his life recently that was worth remembering. Goosebumps rose on his arms at the thought, and he realized that he was actually pretty cold, with his wet shirt and hair only exacerbating the chills that were beginning to run through his body. He was going to need to get his hands on something soon if he was going to stave off the worst of these withdrawals. 

Genesis seemed to notice the beginnings of the tremors running through him, and looked down concerned. Cloud tried to turn his head to avoid making eye contact, but was only half successful. “Hey, you ok?” He asked, obviously very concerned.

Cloud finally gave up trying to ignore him and met his gaze, the other man’s green eyes pierced his attempts to conceal his worsening condition. “No.” Was all he said. He knew that he didn’t need to elaborate what that entailed, Genesis was smart enough to know that this was about more than a few carefully aimed words from Sephiroth.

“It’s wearing off, isn’t it.” Was all he said. He truly appreciated the simple precision in the way that Genesis communicated with him. No need for extra syllables or beating around the bush, he always just said what he meant. 

Cloud nodded slowly, he was still laying with his head in Genesis’ lap, arms crossed across his chest and gripping himself at the elbows, trying to stave off the greater part of the chills wracking his limbs. The sensation clawed at his senses and he could feel the back of his mind gnawing on the urge to seek out the substance that would make the discomfort ease. He tried his best to maintain his relaxed demeanor, but he knew it didn’t matter, both of the other men already knew what was going on. He started to mentally fiddle with how to go about bringing up the obvious decision that had to be made. But after a few more moments of playing out a few different scenarios in his mind, he gave up as a wave of nausea hit him head on, causing him to curl up on himself and turn over on his side, gripping his midsection with both arms. 

He felt Genesis wrap his arms around him, one hand rubbing his back. “Fuck, Cloud.” The other man leaned over him, trying to read his expression from the odd angle he was at above him. Cloud’s face was contorted in a grimace of self-loathing and queasiness. “Are you sure you wanna do this on your own, you sure you don’t wanna go to the hospital?” 

Cloud growled through his clenched teeth. He figured Sephiorth would have informed him of what they had discussed earlier, but it still slightly irked him that he hadn't been present when they had talked about it. Though he knew his anger had a lot more to do with how awful he was starting to feel physically than what had been said about his condition. He nodded, and forced himself up into a sitting position, one arm still wrapped around his stomach and the other propping himself up off the couch. All thoughts regarding his interaction with Sephiroth and the frustration associated with it were forgotten as the agonizing pain in his insides grew with each passing moment. 

He finally made his way up into a seated position next to Genesis, whose arm was still gently laid across his shoulders. He looked up and saw that Sephiroth was sitting upright across from them and perched on the very edge of the sofa beneath him. He appeared to be intently watching their movements and poised to come over to them. Cloud just grunted and shook his head in response to Genesis’ earlier query. He would not go back there. No, he was going to do things his way this time. “No, not going back there.” He felt a slight wetness beginning to bead on his forehead and realized his need was progressing much faster than he had expected it to come on. “I need to pick up through...I’m sorry. But this is hitting me much faster and harder than I expected. Reno really outdid himself this time, fuck my life.”

Sephiroth nodded in acknowledgement of his words and met his gaze cooly. He seemed to have gone into professional mode instantaneously, any effects of the liquor had faded from his visage and he appeared perfectly attuned to their situation. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” He stood now, crossing his arms and running his hand across his chin in deep thought. He glanced at Genesis, but averted his gaze quickly. “One of us can go out for you.”

Genesis stood now as well, he did so in one quick motion and he patted Cloud on the shoulder a few times reassuringly. “I’ve got this. I know a guy. Only about ten minutes away, I’ll be quick.” He held out his hand towards Sephiroth, extending his arm out over the table and gesturing for him to hand him something. 

Sephiroth pulled out his keys from his jean’s pocket, but made no move to hand him them. Instead wrapping his fingers around the keyring and staring at the other man while shaking his head violently back and forth. “No you won’t. I’m not making you do that.”

Genesis groaned. “Seph, now's not the time. It’ll take forever to explain where to go, what to ask for, don’t even get me started on trying to explain to you how to act. And god knows you don’t look the part. We don’t have time for this. Trust me, I got this.” 

Sephiroth growled at the redhead. “It’s not that I don’t trust you! I just don’t want you to have to go through that again.” He sighed and gritted his teeth, glancing down at Cloud, who was now panting and leaning back into the couch, ignoring the majority of their conversation and focusing mostly on not vomiting all over the carpet. Sephiroth grunted in exasperation now, but he nodded at Genesis and handed him the keys grudgingly. “You’re right. Please, just be careful.”

Genesis grabbed the keys quickly and sat back down after pocketing them, hurriedly pulling on his boots and lacing them up. He wasted no time with any more words directed at either Cloud or Sephiroth. After a moment he stood and darted over to the rack by the back door, grabbing his jacket and throwing it on as he strode around the back of the closest couch and half jogged down the hallway towards the front door. “Hang in there Cloud, be back soon.” The door could be heard slamming shut behind him and the silence of his absence lapsed over the room like a wave.

Cloud just grunted and rolled over onto his side on the couch, he was sweating pretty heavily now, and he was having a hard time focusing on anything besides his own breathing and the thumping of his own heartbeat in his ears. The leather cushion on the seat below his head stuck to the side of his face and annoyed him beyond reason. He was beginning to realize everything aggravated him right now. “Fuck you, Reno.” He spit out angrily, between painful exhales. 

Cloud watched as a figure he knew to be Sephiroth knelt in front of him. He was holding a trash can in one hand, which he set down gently on the floor close to Cloud’s head, and as his head came level with Cloud’s he saw that he was also carrying a cup of water and a pillow, which he maneuvered under his head carefully. “Indeed. Fuck, Reno.” He said quite seriously, as he looked through the lower half of his glasses’ lens at the younger man curled up on his couch.

Cloud couldn’t help but laugh at his intensely serious expression. It was exactly what he needed right now, the silver haired man might not have been intending to raise his spirits, in fact he appeared very concerned. But to Cloud, it was immensely humorous. In fact, this entire shit storm of events since he had left prison was laughable, the irony of it all was not lost on him. _‘Out of the frying pan, into the fire,’ as they say._ Cloud managed to mutter out his thanks through barely concealed laughter, which seemed to be slightly disturbing to Sephiroth. If he thought about it, it probably wasn’t normal for someone in his position to be predisposed to humor of any kind, but he was so jaded at this point, that he had crossed the gap between normal and demented a while ago, back in prison in fact.

“Hmm...how are you feeling?” Sephiroth asked, still seated on the floor in front of him. He had moved to a cross legged position, and seemed as though he planned on staying there for a while, making no moves to return to a standing position. His head was cocked to the side in response to Cloud’s laughter and an eyebrow raised. 

Cloud only laughed again, his teeth chattering for a moment, contorting the sound hideously. “How I look.” He said ruefully. He was in no mood for conversation and simply wanted to focus on making it through each moment as best he could. “Like I want to get high.” He added, lacing the words with his peaking frustration at his worsening condition. He stared at the carpet and couldn’t help from muttering the rest of his thoughts. “...I wish he was here, and I hate myself for it. I just want him to waltz in and fix this. Give _me_ a fix…” 

Sephiroth nodded, he didn’t react overtly to his words, but Cloud could tell that what he had said hit him hard. He looked angry, as well as deeply saddened. But Cloud knew better than to think his anger was directed at him. He knew that Sephiorth had been carving out a hate filled grave for Reno in his heart since he and Cloud had grown closer, and Cloud felt as though he could share these thoughts with him since their conversation earlier in the day, when he had admitted his true feelings regarding the man, or at least what the man had been able to do for him. He knew that he could share them with Genesis too, but Sephiroth had an understanding in his eyes, a kind of understanding that went beyond just empathy. 

“You’re not any less strong for being willing to admit that. In fact, the ability to do that is what gives you that strength. I have so many patients, one’s that have been through similar experiences, that are never able to admit those feelings and desires, and they most likely will never recover. It gives me hope for you, Cloud.” The corners of Sephiroth's mouth turned up slightly, but that was the only visible sign of happiness that he showed. He watched Cloud closely, but the blonde’s condition seemed to have stabilized at one level of distress, and no longer appeared to be declining, or at least not as fast. 

Cloud found some solace in his words, but he was still much too afflicted to respond. He was becoming overwhelmed by the concept of trying to go through with this, he knew he had to, and he wanted to, but he felt too weak mentally to contemplate the idea of actually making his way through this. He wanted to get clean, and he would do everything in his power to, but much of his motivation for wanting that stemmed only from his desire to prove himself to both Sephiroth and Genesis. He knew that if he didn’t, there was no way they would be able to accept him. But in a way, he was relieved that he had them, if not, he probably would have never even considered trying to do this on his own, because he didn’t even want to live for himself. As he had proven the other night, when he had tried to off himself just to escape the possibility of continuing to live life like this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***CHAPTER 16 COMING SOON!!!***
> 
> ANNOUNCEMENT---This is the only other chapter I had written up to this point so now all of the chapters coming up will be newly written, fingers crossed for success! 
> 
> As always, much love and many thanks for all of your wonderful feedback and encouragement <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think in the comments! I will be releasing a new chapter each week, as promised. And there's a LOT of material. So if you're looking for a long fic filled with suspense and drama, you've come to the right place! Thank you!


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